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SIAMESE
STATE CEREMONIES
SIAMESE
STATE CEREMONIES
THEIR HISTORY AND FUNCTION
BY
H. G. QUARITCH WALES, M.A., Ph.D.

Late of the Lord Chamberlain's Department, Court of Siam
With Frontispiece, 45 Plates and 5 Figures
LONDON
BERNARD QUARITCH, LTD.
11, GRAFTON STREET, NEW BOND STREET
1931
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY
STEPHEN AUSTIN AND SONS, LTD., HERTFORD
To my Aunt,
MRS. C. QUARITCH WRENTMORE,

I dedicate this book
in appreciation
of her sympathetic interest
in my work.
PREFACE
nPO students of Indian Culture interested in tracing the influence of
India in the institutions of her Cultural Colonies, as also to
Anthropologists, the Religious Festivals and Court Ceremonies, which
stillremain the most characteristic features of Siamese social life,
offeran important field for research. Yet the subject has been little
touched by scholars, and I realize, therefore, that a pioneer work of
this nature can only be regarded as an attempt to lay a foundation
and I hope that other students particularly those
for further studies,
Siamese possessed of an extensive knowledge of their own literature
and customs may be encouraged to endeavour to fill those gaps whicli
remain in our knowledge of most of the Siamese State Ceremonies.
There are two points which I think call for notice here in order to
remove possible misconceptions. In the first place, it may be as well
to mention that; despite the fact that most of the Koyal Ceremonies
discussed in this work are Hindu in origin, and retain much
Brahmanical however, be clearly understood that
ritual, it should,
Buddhism is now, and has been for many centuries, the real religion
of both the Siamese people and their sovereigns.
The second point concerns the question of transliteration. In the
chapter I quote M. George Coedes' reasons for preferring a scientific
first
system adapted from that used for the transliteration of Sanskrit,

and employed by him in transliterating the Siamese stone inscriptions,
and I there also express my opinion that this system is equally suitable
for use in the present work. 1 am, however, well aware that my
adoption of this system is open to criticism from certain points of
view, and hence 1 take the opportunity of referring to the matter here
in some detail. In coming to my decision on the question, I was mainly
" "
influenced by the fact that the Court words used in connection
with many of the Ceremonies are very frequently Indian in origin,
and any phonetic system would have rendered them entirely
unintelligible to students desirous of tracing the extent of Indian
cultural influence in Siam. At the same time, the use of this system,
which is purely mechanical, and does not
attempt to restore a word
to its original Sanskrit or Pali, avoids the many pitfalls into which in
the past certain writers have fallen, owing to their imperfect knowledge
of the 'classical languages of India. The present system, whilst in
most cases rendering the Indian origin of a word sufficiently
Vlll PREFACE
recognizable, allows it to be easily reconstructed in Siamese characters

"
if required. Again, the purely Siamese words, though admittedly
often unrecognizable in their transliterated form, are equally easily
reconstructed in Siamese characters. It has been suggested to me
that two systems, a phonetic and a scientific, might with advantage
be used for the Siamese and Indian words respectively, but, quite
apart from the inconvenience of using two systems, there would be
the sometimes insuperable difficulty of deciding whether a given word
isin fapt of Indian or purely Siamese origin. If I make a few exceptions
to my rule of adhering to one system of transliteration throughout the
book, only in the case of a few well-known proper names, in
it is
deference to established usage.

Much of the material incorporated in this volume was obtained
by me while in Siam, and I am especially indebted to H.R.H. Prince
Bamrong Rajanubhab, with whom I was privileged to have many
illuminating conversations. My thanks are also due to H.H. Prince
Dhani Nivat, and Brahya Prijanusasana, for valuable information and
introductions to my friend Professor Rene Nicolas of Culalankarana
;
University, whose kindly criticism of parts of my manuscript at an

early stage was very helpful and to Mr. P. S. Sastri, the Indian
;
Sanskrit scholar attached to the Royal Institute at Bangkok, who

assisted me in the translation of certain Siamese texts.
The present work was accepted by the University of London for
the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and I particularly wish to express
my gratitude to Dr. C. 0. Blagden, Dean of the School of Oriental
Studies, for guiding me in my studies while in England ; also to
Dr. L. D. Barnett, whom I often consulted with reference to Indian
literature and to Dr. B. Malinowski for introducing me to the
;
functional method of social anthropology.

H. G. Q. W.
LONDON,
October, 1031.
CONTENTS
PAET I. INTRODUCTORY
CHAP. PAGE
I. SCOPE AND SOURCES 3
II. AN OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF SIAMESE CULTURE 4 12
III. SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE SIAMESE . . 21
PART II. THE CHIEF FACTORS IN SIAMESE STATE

CEREMONIAL
IV. THE KINGSHIP 29
V. THE COURT BRAHMANS ..... 54
PART lit. CEREMONIES OF INSTALLATION

VI. CORONATION : THE MAIN CEREMONIES ... 67
VII. CORONATION (continued) : THE REGALIA AND THE

STATE PROGRESSES 92
VIII. CORONATION (continued) : INSTALLATION OF THE

QUEEN AND ASSUMPTION OF THE ROYAL RESIDENCE 116
IX. HIGHER GRADES IN ROYAL CONSECRATION . . 121
X. THE TONSURE CEREMONY 126
XL CREMATION : THE CEREMONIES . . . .137

XII. CREMATION (continued) : HISTORY AND FUNCTION . 155
XIII. THE WORSHIP OF DEAD KINGS . . . .169
PART IV. CEREMONIES CLOSELY CONNECTED WITH

KINGSHIP
XIV. ROYAL AUDIENCES, and the Reception of Embassies 177
XV. THE OATH OF ALLEGIANCE 193
XVI. THE ROYAL BOUNTY (Tulabhdra and Kathina) . 199
XVII. ROYAL ANNIVERSARIES (Coronation and Birthday) . 213

X CONTENTS
FART V. CEREMONIES RELATING TO AGRICULTURE

CHAP. PAGB
XVIII. CEREMONIES FOB THE CONTROL OP WIND AND RAIN :
Kite-flying, Baruna-Satra, and the Speeding of the

Outflow 221
XIX.
Sdrada ........
FESTIVALS OF FIRST FRUITS :
Dhanya Doha and
228
XX. THE SWINGING FESTIVAL, and the Reception of the

Gods 238
XXI. THE FIRST PLOUGHING 256
XXII. TEMPORARY KINGS .

'
. . . , 265
PART VI. MISCELLANEOUS STATE CEREMONIES
XXIII. THE WHITE ELEPHANT 273
XXIV. FEASTS OF LAMPS : Con Pariah, Kahtikeya Festival,

and L6y Brah Prahdip 288
XXV. MINOR BRAIIMANICAL CEREMONIES : The Worship

of the Sacred Bull, Visnu's Sleep, Diva's Night,
Snana, Top-spinning, New Year . . .295

XXVI. THE PROPITIATION OF SPIRITS :
Animism, Guardian
Spirits of Cities, Guardian Spirits in Great Guns,
and Foundation Sacrifices 300
XXVII. THE EXPULSION OF EVIL The General Expulsion

:
of Evil at New Year, the Public Scapegoat, the

Expulsion of Disease, a Ceremony of Palace
Exorcism, and a Royal Exorcism . . .308
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS
XXVIII. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 315
INDEX 319
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
A. Aymonier, Le Cambodge, 3 vols., Paris, 1900-4.
BEFEO. Bulletin de Vficole Franchise $ Extreme-Orient.

9
BRB. Ro'ah Brah Raja Bidhl Sipson Do an (Ceremonies of
the Twelve Months), by H.M. King Culalankafana,
Bangkok.
C. .
Chatterji, Indian Cultural Influence in Cambodia, Calcutta,
1920.
D, Dubois and Beauchamp, Hindu Manners, Customs and

Ceremonies, 3rd edition, 1905.
ERE. Hastings, Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics.
GB. The Golden Bough, by Sir J. G. Frazer, 3rd edition, London,
1915. The eleven vols. are referred to by the following
numbers I, The Magic Art, pt.
: 1 II, do, pt. 2 ;
;
III, Taboo and the Perils of the Soul IV, The Dying God ; ;
'
V, Adonis, Attis, Osiris, pt. 1 ; VI, do. pt. 2 VII, Spirits

;
of the Corn and Wild, pt. 1 ; VIII, do, pt. 2 ; IX, The
Scapegoat ; X, Balder the Beautiful, pt. 1 ; XI, do., pt. 2.
Ge. (1) G. E. Gerini, Chulakantamangala, Bangkok, 1895.

"
Ge. (2) G. E. Gerini, article on Festivals and Fasts (Siamese)/*
in Hastings' Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics.
Gr, Groslier, Rechcrches sur les Cambodgiens, Paris, 1921.
HV. Gam Hoi Kara Khun Hlvan Ha Vat (Evidence of Khun
Hlvau Ha Vat).
JSS. Journal of the Siam Society.
KM. Kata Mandirapdla (Book of Palace Law).
L. Leclere, Fetes Civiles et Religieuses du Cambodge.
L. L. La Loubere, Siam, English edition, London, 1693.
M. Mahdvamsa, edn. of Geiger and Bode, London, 1912.
NN.- Ro'an Nan Nabamdsa (Story of Lady Nabamasa).
P. Pallegoix, Royaume Thai ou Siam, 2 vols., Paris, 1854.
SBE. Sacred Books of the East.
The Jatakas (Buddhist Birth Stories) are usually referred to by

numbers, the quotations being from Cowell's edition.
xi
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
His Majesty Prajadhipok, King of Siam, seated
m State and accompanied by his Regalia
Bearers Frontispiece
I. The Altar in the Siva Temple

A Mantra entitled " The Worship
.... To face page
54
II.
Directions" ......
......
of the Eight
55
III.
IV.
V.
Yantra Diagrams
Yantra Diagrams
Brahman performing Homa
......
....
56
57
72
VI. Pai-Srl Trays with Offerings to the Deities , 73
VII. The King in the Ablution Pavilion receiving
Anointment Water from the Prince Patriarch 75
VIII. The Ceremony on the Octagonal Throne . . 78
IX. The King seated on the Brahdrapitha Throne
X.
after
Some of the Regalia
...
.....
having received the Regalia 84
92
XI. The Inscription of the Golden Tablet of Style and
XII.
XIII.
Title, and
The Royal Weapons
of the
The Royal Progress by Land

.....
Royal Horoscope
....
. . 102
106
110
XIV. The Royal Barge " Subarnahansa " . . Ill
XV. The Anointment of the Queen . . . . 118
XVI. The Assumption of the Royal Residence . . 119
XVII. Mount Kailasa and the Procession of the
Tonsurate . . . . m .128
XVIII. Reception of the Tonsurate by Siva (King
Rama V) on Mount Kailasa . . . 130
XIX.
.......
The Tonsurate seated in Full State after the
Ceremony 131
XX.
XXI.
The Corpse of King Sisowath
for placing in the Urn .....
of Cambodia dressed
The Lying-in-State in the Tusita Maha Prasada

139
142
XXII. Monks Chanting during the Lying-in-State . 143
XXIII. The Funeral Pyre (Brah Meru) of King Rama VI 145
XXI.V.
Funeral Car
XXV. A Royal
......
The Urn being transferred to the Great
Funeral Procession . . . .
148
149
XIV LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS
5. The Brafy Mahd Raja Gru performing Rites in the

Siva Temple on the First Day of the Waning
of the Second Month, at the Point
immediately
on the Bhadrapitha Throne ....

before the Small Images are bathed and placed
248
PART I
INTRODUCTORY
CHAPTER I
SCOPE AND SOURCES

This inquiry is limited to a study of the State Ceremonies of Siam,
and these are primarily Brahmanical with later Buddhist modifica-
tions. The reason for this is twofold In the first place, the State
:
Religion of those countries from which the Siamese derived, their

civilization in early days was in the main Hinduism, and
kingship,
wherever found, tends to preserve the usages of former times.
it is
Secondly, Hinduism is a religion that lends itself especially to the

support of that pomp and circumstance inseparable from Absolute
Monarchy, the only form of government the Siamese have ever known.
On the other hand, Buddhism is essentially a religion of the people/
tolerating kings merely as protectors. Thus, while Siamese kings have
always protected Buddhism, and have usually looked to it themselves
for spiritual consolation, they have surrounded themselves with the
paraphernalia of Hinduism and retained much of its ritual in their

Court Ceremonies, the better to support the power of the monarchy.
We shall, therefore, make a rather close study of Siamese Brahmanism,
but shall only consider Buddhism in so far as it is necessary to enable
us to understand the Buddhist additions made by pious kings in later
times to many of the State Ceremonies. Only one purely Buddhist
festival will be included the Kathina
specially selected as illustrating
that aspect of the kingship in which the monarch fills the r61e of
protector of the people's faith. To attempt to deal with the popular
Buddhist festivals and ceremonies of Siam would be to open up a vast
research into Siamese Buddhism, far beyond the scope of this
field of
work. Nevertheless, though the inquiry revolves mainly around the

king and his court, it is more than a
study of the kingship it ;
probes deeply into the whole body of society.

The mode of treatment here employed is an attempt to combine
two methods of investigation, namely, the historical, or archceokgical ;
and the functional method of social anthropology. The first method is

the one which first appealed to me and on the lines of which my former
studies of Indian culture had been conducted. In the words of
Sir James Frazer :
"
To out the elements of culture which a race has independently
sift
evolved and to distinguish them accurately from those which it has
derived from other races is a task of extreme difficulty and delicacy,
which promises to occupy students of man for a long time to come." l
1
OB. x, p. vii.
3
4 SIAMESE STATE CEREMONIES
These words immediately call to mind those two theories of modern

anthropology, the diffusionist and that of independent origins. Sir
James evidently sees scope for the application of both theories, and 1
agree with this point of view, with the reservation that the final
pronouncement on the question must inevitably await the accumulation
of a vastly greater amount of data from all parts of the world than we
are in possession of to-day. It is in this connection that I hope that
some of the facts that I have brought to light in this book may serve
a wider purpose in the hands of comparative ethnographers who may
perceive theoretical values of wide application that have escaped me.
In dealing with a people like the Siamese, whose culture is mainly
borrowed from India, the diffusionist theory certainly forces itself
to the fore ;
and within the limited field of the Indian Cultural Colonies
there can be no gainsaying the fact that diffusion has played a very
prominent part. Indeed Hocart, in his book on Kingship, has

1
brought forward interesting evidence in support of there having been

much cultural diffusion amongst all those maritime peoples extending
from the Mediterranean to Fiji. But this appears to me to be still
a long way from establishing the world-wide application of the
diffusionist theory from some such source of origin as Egypt.
It will perhaps be as well to define at once in what sense I use the
word " origin ". As Dr. Malinowski has pointed out with regard
to magic :
" '
Magic never originated ', it never has been made or invented.

AH magic simply was from the beginning an essential adjunct of
' '
all such things and processes as vitally interest man and yet elude
his normal rational efforts. The spell, the rite, and the thing which
2
they govern are coeval."
3
Again, as Hocart remarks :
"
There are no first beginnings ;
there are only beliefs, older
beliefs, and yet older beliefs."
I hope, therefore, that it will be understood that I do not use

" "
the word origin dogmatically, but merely as a term of convenience
expressive of that stage, more or less remote, to which we are, in the
present state of knowledge, able to trace any given institution.
Turning now to the second method of investigation the functional
method of social anthropology. It was only after reading some of the
illuminating writings of Dr. Malinowski that I appreciated the value
of this line of approach, and in attempting to apply it to the study
1
London, 1927.
* "
Magic, Science and Religion," in Science, Religion and Reality, 1925, p. 69.
*
Op. eft., p. v.
SCOPE AND SOURCES 5
of Siamese State Ceremonies I believe that I am adding much to the

value of the work. The object of this method is to show, ty functional
analysis, the -value of any given custom or rite for social integrity and
for the continuity of culture. It is eminently practical and is concerned
less with the reason that a native priest gives for the performance of
a rite,than with the actual sociological value of the rite as evinced in
the effect which it has on the life and status of the community. So far,
the functional method has been applied almost entirely to primitive
peoples, but there seems to be no reason why it should not he also
applied to the higher culture, although the increasing complexity of
social organization adds to the difficulties, but also to the interest of
the work.
Siamto-day is passing through a critical period in her
history. She has passed far along the road towards westernization.
But a careful observer may note that this change has come about
almost entirely in the sphere of the profane. She is indebted to western
culture for much that has added to her material well-being but here, ;
as elsewhere in the East, western religion has failed to make any appeal.
For her spiritual salvation Siam must look to her own cultural
inheritance and it is fortunate that amongst the masses of the people
;
her religion was perhaps never more influential, and the respect for
the monarchy remains undiminished. In the words of Dr. Malinowski :
"
A
society which makes its tradition sacred has gained by it an
inestimable advantage of power and permanence. Such beliefs and
practices, therefore, which put a halo of sanctity round tradition and a
* '
supernatural stamp upon it, will have a survival value for the type
of civilization in which they have been evolved. They were bought
. . .
at an extravagant price, and are to be maintained at any cost." l
But there are many Siamese who do not know that. Though the
kings of the present dynasty have been, perhaps not unnaturally,
staunch upholders of ancient tradition, there are other Siamese in
high positions, especially to be found amongst those who have been
educated on foreign lines, who fail to distinguish between the facts
it is good for Siam to make material
that whereas improvements and
break down old abuses, it is, on the contrary, suicidal for her to
interfere with her religion and cultural inheritance. Since these people
have Siam's future in their keeping, it is my hope that the attempt
that is made in this book to show to what extent and in exactly what
way the various State Ceremonies are of value for the maintenance
of social integrity may be of use in guiding them in those modifications
which the growth of education may make necessary, keeping that
1
Science, Religion and Reality, p. 40.
which is of lasting good in each ceremony and steadfastly setting

their faces against complete abolition, which is almost always both
undesirable and unjustifiable.
That the present king is, like his predecessors of the dynasty,
is exemplified by a speech which I
alive to the value of tradition,
recently (12th November, 1930) heard him make to the students of

Vajiravudh College on the occasion of their Founder's Day. In the
course of this speech he said that school tradition engendered a love
of the. school and in learning how to love this, their own small world,
the students learned to love their country, their world after leaving
school, to admire and follow the traditions which their ancestors had
carriedon down from past ages. Thus, he said, the old traditions lived
on to the present and proved a most excellent thing. It taught the
people to think of the deeds of their ancestors and to work for their
Country's progress.
That there is abundant need for such advice as that contained in
the royal speech above quoted is at once shown by taking a glance
at the less pleasant side of the picture, which may be graphically
illustrated by the following extract from a recent issue of a Bangkok
newspaper :
"
Owing to the failure of the public in general to give proper
attention and due respect to His Majesty the King when the Siamese
National Anthem is being played after performances in the local
entertainment halls, H.R.H. the Minister of Interior has issued an
order to the police authorities to remedy the situation. It has been
noticed that when the band strikes up the National Anthem some
persons seem to pay little attention to it, while others walk out of the
hall, quite oblivious to the patriotic custom. The police on duty
have been instructed to remind the public when the tune is being
played, and to take down the names of the offenders in the case of
l
government officials or military men."
In the days of Old Siam there was no National Anthem. But had
there been one, or had the people found themselves in the presence
of a Royal Letter or any other symbol of royalty, they would have
known quite well what to do. They would have immediately thrown
themselves flat on their faces. That custom was abolished long ago
in accordance with the needs of a new age. But what was left
in its Instead of a gradual modification, the schooling
place ?
of the people a new etiquette, they were, except for the
in
immediate entourage of the king, left in complete ignorance as
to what they should do in such circumstances. Thus, though the
people are at present absolutely devoid of evil intent, the door
1
Bangkok Daily Mail, 21st October, 1930.
SCOPE AND SOURCES 7
is left open for the dark teachings of communism, or whatever

doctrines may chance to catch the ear of the masses, to* step in and
hasten the work of social destruction.
I have said that this is an attempt to combine the historical and
functional methods of work. In the lower culture the functional
method has had towork alone, for the reason that little was definitely
known of the past, and it was left to the idle speculations of the
*'
antiquarian ", founded on the false evidence of explanatory myths
and his own
imagination. Very different, however, is that species of
archaeological work that is founded on the written records and stone
inscriptions of a people of the higher culture, documented carefully
at every step and corroborated by reference to the histories of
neighbouring countries and it seemed to me that with such a highly
;
developed people as the Siamese much would be gained by a combina-

tion of the functional and historical methods. For
example, light maV
sometimes be thrown on the real sociological significance of a custom
by a knowledge of its history, when more direct methods of study have
failed to afford a clue. Or the historical record of the abolition of a
custom several centuries ago may afford valuable evidence as to the
present trend of events and the future of the society.
The sources of information of which use has been made in the
present study of Siamese Court Ceremonies are as follows :
1. Stone
Inscriptions. Almost the only inscriptions which afford
any details concerning Siamese State Ceremonies are those of the first
Siamese kingdom of Sukhodaya, especially the famous
inscription of
King Kama Gamhen, which gives a remarkable amount of interesting
information. These have been published by the Vajiranana National
Library, with a French translation by M. Coedes. 1 Khmer epigraphy,
despite its richness, has proved disappointing, the inscriptions
consisting almost invariably of names of kings, dates, records of the
founding of temples, and long lists of donations to religion ;

but
practically no ceremonial data whatever.
2. Siamese Literature. This is the main source of information for
the study of Siamese Religion and Ceremonial.
Unfortunately, the
national literature suffered a great blow when it was almost all
destroyed at the fall of Ayudhya in A.D. 1767. Books entirely devoted

to a single ceremony (i.e. in the case of Coronation and
Cremation)
will be considered in the chapters devoted to those ceremonies. Here
may be mentioned a few books which are of great general importance
in the study of Siamese State Ceremonial. The oldest of such
writings
1
Recueildes Inscriptions du Siam, pt. "
i, Inscriptions de Sukhodaya," G. Coed&g,
Bangkok, 1924.
is the Kata Mandirapdla, or Book of Palace Law (hereafter referred to

as KM.), which is known from a manuscript dated A.D. 1805, and is
supposed to have existed in almost the same form from about the
fifteenth century A.D. The text of this Law was published in Bradley 's
edition of Siamese Kathmdy. It is archaic in style, often ambiguous,
and, indeed, the Siamese themselves are uncertain as to the meaning

of many passages. A book of which the nucleus is almost certainly
as old or even older than the KM. is the Ro'an Nan Nabamdsa, or
Story of Lady NabamaSa (hereafter referred to as NN.). The author

is supposed to have been the daughter of a Brahman at the Court of
one of the kings of Sukhodaya, and to have become one of the favourite
wives of that king. From her father, and from the special opportunities
that she enjoyed for personal observation, she acquired a remarkable
knowledge of the State Ceremonies which were performed throughout
the twelve months at that period, and she has left a short account of
each, amongst other material, in the memoirs which purport to have
been written by her. From the fact, however, that there is mention
of the use of guns at Sukhodaya (about the thirteenth century), and
there is also mention of the presence of Europeans and even Americans
at the capital, much doubt has been thrown on the authenticity of
this book as a whole. However, both Kings Rama IV and V believed
in the authenticity of the greater part of the book, supposing that it
had been revised at a recent period by a person whose ignorance made
him unsuitable for the task. It seems to me also that the greater
part of the book is sound, and I am particularly impressed by the
fact that the descriptions of many of the ceremonies imply an earlier
stage in their evolution, which is exactly what students would expect-

to find, but does too much credit to the imagination of the editor, who
calmly records the presence of firearms and Americans at Sukhodaya

I therefore attach considerable importance to this book for the study
of ceremonial during the period which immediately followed the
setting-up of the first free Siamese kingdom. It was printed and
published by the National Library in B.E. 2472 (A.D. 1929). Another

valuable book of memoirs giving many details about Court Ceremonies
in the Ayudhya period is Gam Hot Kara Khun Hlvan Hd Vat, or Evidence
of Khun Hlvan Ha Vat (hereafter referred to as HV.), said to have
been dictated by King Udumbara, the last king but one of Ayudhya.
It was printed and published by the National Library in B.E. 2459
(A.D. 1916). Both the usual versions of the Bansdvahtdra Krunkdu,

or Annals of Ayudhya, and the version discovered in A.D. 1909 by
Hlvan Prasoeth, and which bears his name, contain occasional
references to State Ceremonies which are of interest. The ceremonial
SCOPE AND SOURCES 9
treatises in the possession of the Court Brahmans contain chiefly

Sanskrit mantras in an Indian character and also short notes in
Siamese for the carrying out of the rites. These books will be more
fully discussed inChapter V. All the above books were made use
of by King Rama V in his voluminous Ro'an Brah Raja Bidhl Sipson
Do an, Treatise on the Royal Ceremonies of the Twelve Months
(hereafter referred to as BRB.). This is a most important work,
though obviously intended for Siamese readers, and the author
unfortunately died before completing the book, there being no account
of the ceremonies for the eleventh month. The book was published
by the National Library in B.E. 2463 (A.D. 1920). A historical work

which gives valuable information concerning the revival of State
Ceremonial at the beginning of the Bangkok Dynasty is the Brah
Raja Bahsdvahtdra Krun Rdtanakosindra Rdjakdl Di Son, History of
the Second Reign, by H.R.H. Prince Damrong Rajanubhab, published
by the National Library in B.E. 2459 (A.D. 1916). Lastly may be
mentioned the Government Gazette, Rdjakiccdnupeksd, published
periodically, since it was first brought out in the last reign the official
;
programmes for ceremonies which it contains are sometimes useful.

3. The works of European Authors. So far as Siam is concerned,
these have, with few exceptions, been found to be almost useless for
the purposes of the present study. Most of them devote considerable
space to the better known ceremonies, but they are usually superficial
and unreliable, or in search of the sensational, and my information has,
therefore, been derived wherever possible from Siamese sources.
Amongst the exceptions may be mentioned the precious work of
La Loubere, ambassador from Louis XIV to the Court of Siam.
However, most of the books in European languages, as well as numerous
articles scattered throughout various periodical publications, have
been carefully perused, and thus a good deal of information which
would otherwise have been missed has been brought to light from
scattered sources, which will be acknowledged in the body of this
book. The only European writer who has given any of the Siamese
State Ceremonies the thorough treatment they deserve is G. E.
x
Gerini, whose monograph on the Tonsure Ceremony contains many
valuable notes on Siamese Brahman ritual which I have found useful.
His derivations and theoretical work however, far from being as
are,
reliable as his facts. Another work by the same writer which is almost
entirely unknown, but which is certainly worthy of notice, is the

article on Festivals and Fasts (Siamese) in Hastings' Encyclopaedia
of Religion and Ethics. Those short notes, based mainly on extracts

1
Chuldkanta man gala, Bangkok, 1895.
from King Rama V's treatise, form, so far as I know, the only notice
on the less well known Ceremonies of the Twelve Months to be found
in any European language. For information as to the
closely related
Cambodian Ceremonies, and the Khmer bas-reliefs of Ankor, I am
indebted to the labours of the great French scholars. The works of
Leclere on the Cambodian State Ceremonies have been
especially
valuable. 1 In tracing the ceremonies back to India the translations
in the Sacred Books of the East and Dubois' Hindu Manners, Customs,
and Ceremonies have been of great help, as has also, from the
point
of view of comparative
ethnography, that mine of information, The
Golden Bough. A large number of other works on India and the
Indian Cultural Colonies have also been found useful, and will be
acknowledged in the text.
4. Personal Observation. Although I mention this source of
information ranks with the study of Siamese literature
last, it certainly
as of the importance. I have personally witnessed most of the
first
public Ceremonies of State on more than one occasion, and was also
fortunate in being present in Siam on the occasions of several
Royal
Cremations, the last Coronation, and the Reception of the White
Elephant for the present reign. My official connection with the
Lord Chamberlain's Department sometimes
gave me special
opportunities for observing ceremonial, and also brought me into
close connection with the " "
of the Court, while the
atmosphere
special studies which I made of the Brahmanic ritual in connection
with the recent Swinging Festival (January, 1931) make the
pages
dealing with that subject perhaps the most satisfactory in this book.
Apart from this, however, my observations have been mainly directed
towards endeavouring to understand the functional value of the various
ceremonies. Such functional value is almost entirely subconscious,
for hardly any Siamese has any answer to make to the question
" "
Why ? other than gen dharmniam (" it is the custom "). One
is at least not much
hampered by explanatory myths now that western
influence is beginning to make even the lower
classes, at least in
Bangkok, despise such things. Nevertheless, one must remember,
that so long as a ceremony remains in
practice, it must retain some
influence over the life of
society, however difficult it may be to
estimate what is .the exact extent of such functional value.
In the same way one can obtain little historical information from
the modern Siamese. Priests and officials connected with the carrying
out of ceremonies can tell one nothing beyond a bare description
1
La Cremation et Us rites funeraires du
Cambodge, Hanoi, 1906, and F&tes Civilea
et
Religieusea du Cambodge.
SCOPE AND SOURCES 11
of the rites and the order in which they must perform them. There
are few Siamese scholars in the western sense, the most notable
example
being H.R.H. Prince Damrong, the author of many important works
in connection with the history and culture of Siam, and to conversations
with whom I am indebted for much valuable information. But as a
still suffers much from a failure to
general rule Siamese scholarship
apply comparative methods and a bias in favour of everything that
may now be called Siamese having originated in Siam. Such an
outlookis surely fatal to research in
any country which owes nearly
every feature of its higher culture to contact with neighbouring
civilizations.
After mature consideration I decided to
adopt throughout this
work the system of transliteration advocated
by M. Coedes in his
Recueil des Inscriptionsdu Siam, part i, p. 10, in the belief that such
a scientific system will be more
generally appreciated, and will in
time be the one universally accepted. 1 In
quoting M. Coedes' words
on the subject, I bog to endorse them as
equally applicable to the
present work :
"
The transcription into Latin characters adopted in this volume
isa scientific one, based on that of Sanskrit. For all
alphabets derived
from the Sanskrit, there are great advantages in making use of the
transcription universally adopted for that language. I recognize,
however, the practical utility of transcriptions which endeavour to
reproduce the pronunciation. Such are those which M. Finot has
employed for the Cambodian or for the Lao, and one might perhaps
be able, in this work, to make some concessions to Siamese
pronunciation,
if it refer to
purely Thai texts. But in view of the great number of
Sanskrit and Pali words interpolated in the Siamese
inscriptions,
and the necessity of employing a single method of
^ transcription, the
repugnance which one feels in corrupting the Indian words to their
Indo-Chinese pronunciation has resulted in the adoption of the
'
transcrip-
tion known as the Indianists' '. Whatever be the system
adopted,
the essential that it permits one to reconstruct the original characters
is
instantaneously. This is precisely the case in this transcription which

is
purely mechanical and does not attempt to reproduce either the
modern pronunciation from which the ancient one differs without
doubt on more than one point, or that ancient pronunciation which
we do not know and perhaps shall never know."
1
But I use s instead of f. and place the dot above the m instead of below it, in
accordance with the English method of
transliterating Sanskrit.
CHAPTER II
AN OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF SIAMESE CULTURE

It will be necessary to devote a chapter to the consideration of
Siamese history with special reference to the trend of the various
currents of influence which have built up Siamese culture as it is
to-day. For a connected account of the obscure portion of the history
of the country before the foundation of Ayudhya we are much indebted
to the labours of H.R.H. Prince Damrong, whose work x on this period
has been followed by W. A. R. Wood. 2 The researches of Prince
Damrong are founded on a careful collation of all the available sources
for study the Siamese annals, inscriptions, and the histories of
3
neighbouring countries, including the Chinese chronicles. Despite
the fact that the earlier history of Siam is as yet by no means beyond
the realms of controversy, it is possible for us to trace the general trend
of cultural influences, which is all that is of primary importance to us
in the present work. After the foundation of Ayudhya in A.D. 1350,
Siamese tradition had become established and changed little until
modern times. We need not, therefore, concern ourselves much with
the dates of kings, the fates of dynasties, nor the accounts of battles,
which loom so largely in later Siamese history, the adequate material
for which has been very satisfactorily treated and attractively
presented in Wood's book.
The earliest inhabitants of what is now Siam were (1) Lava,
fragments of which people still exist in the northern hill ranges, and
(2) theMon-Khmer, who stretched from what is now Cambodia

through the Menam valley and the Malay country as far as Pegu.
The first foreign voyagers to disturb these early inhabitants were
parties of Indian traders who probably reached Pegu and the west
coast of the Peninsula as early as the beginning of the Buddhist era,
but the first real settlers probably did not come until the time of
Aôka's invasion of Kalinga, after which refugees reached the Gulf
of Siam and traded in Cambodia. Shortly after this, Asoka sent two
missionaries, Sona and Uttara, to Suvarijabhumi, believed by Rhys

Davids to refer to the region fiom Pegu to the Malay Peninsula;
but though Pegu was almost certainly the first to feel this influence,
1
Translated into English in JSS., vol. xiii.
8
History of Siam, London, 1926.
3
A full list of these sources is given in JSS., vol. xi.
12
AN OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF SIAMESE CULTURE 13
on accountof its geographical position, it is probable that Hinayanism

reached Nagara Pathama at a very early period. The form of
Buddhism disseminated by the missionaries of A3oka was, of course,
Hinayanism; and that this was the form first received in Siam is
supported by the fact that ancient cetiya and cdkra wheels (which
were used by the early Buddhists instead of images), dating from this
time, have been found at Nagara Pathama. From here Hinayanism
spread further along the shores of the Gulf, and even to Cambodia.
About the end of the first century A.D. King Kaniska, under
whom rose the Mahayana sect of Buddhism in the Punjab, sent
missionaries to China, Tibet, and Southern India. From the latter
point Mahayanism spread to the powerful kingdom of Srivijaya in

Sumatra, which extended its sway over the Malay Peninsula up to
about the twelfth century A.D. Thus Mahayanism found its way
to Southern Siam, Central Siam, and Cambodia. Mahayanistic
" "
images turning the wheel of the law and dating from the early
part of the Christian era have been found at Nagara Pathama, while
from the third to the seventh century A.D. the Mons formed a kingdom
known as Dvaravati in the Menarii valley, of which remains have
been left in the shape of Sanskrit inscriptions and Buddhist images
resembling the Sarnath school in India. Again, although after
this time Brahmanism regained its ascendency in India, there
were still Buddhist monarchs, and the missions of King Siladitya
about A.D. 656 probably affected Siam and Cambodia.
That the Indian settlers and the natives of Suvarnabhumi remained
Buddhists for a long time is shown by the fact that there are no early
Brahmanic ruins in the West. When Siva and Visnu worship arrived
is not definitely known, but no doubt the Indian settlers kept up
communications with their motherland and new settlers arrived.

These, not liking to dwell amongst the Buddhists of the West, passed
on further east to where the early settlers had not been converted to
Buddhism. These Brahmanic Indians set up a powerful State in
Cambodia, and then extended their rule further west over the Lao
country and Suvarnabhumi, which accounts for later Brahmanic ruins
being found nearly all over Siam.
We must now consider the Thai, i.e. the ancestors of the modern
Siamese, including their cousins, the so-called Lao, who inhabit the
country formerly occupied by They began to move

the ancient Lava.
southwards in southern China about 100 B.C., and eventually set up
a strong independent State (Nanchao) in the seventh century. From
there they moved ever southwards, in response to pressure from the
north, and entered the country now known as Siam. Their original
religion is not known, but it is probable that they received the teachings
of Mahayanism at a fairly early period. As they arrived within the
bounds of the Khmer empire they found that the 'people of the
country were of a religion which was by now a mixture of
Brahmanism and Buddhism. They preferred Buddhism, but re-
spected the Brahmans.

The Thai threw off the yoke at Sukhodaya in A.D. 1237. The great
King Kama Gamhen succeeded to the throne of the young State in
1276. Under him the kingdom was vastly extended, and almost
certainly included both Pegu and Nagara Sri Dharmaraja within its
borders. An occurrence of importance in his reign was the opening
up of political relations with China, two embassies having been

received from Siam, according to the Chinese chronicles. King Rama
Gamhen died in A.D. 1317, and the next king but one was King
Dharmaraja I, who succeeded in 1353. From inscriptions we learn
that he was versed in the Tripitaka, in Hindu ritual, skilled in astrology,
and able to cast the calendar that he erected a school for Buddhist
;
and Brahman priests and sent a mission to Ceylon to bring away

certain relics. Most important of all, the intercourse which had
sprung up with Ceylon since the foundation of the Sukhodaya State
culminated in the invitation to the Patriarch of Ceylon to come and
teach in Siam where a monastery was built for him. To this period
Siam, and also Cambodia, owe their final conversion to Hinayanism ;
and this was largely due to the Siamese monarch's respect for and
desire to emulate the actions of the great King Parakrama Bahu of
Ceylon, who was almost a contemporary of Rama Gamhen. Towards
the end of his life the pious King Dharmaraja I actually became
a monk.
After the time of King Rama Gamhen the temporal power of
Sukhodaya began to wane. Pegu was lost by Dharmaraja I, and
with his successors the territorial extent of the short-lived State
further diminished. A rival power sprung up at Udon, near the
modern town of Suvarna, and its prince conquered Labapuri, the old
city of Ayudhya and Candapuri, parts of the old Khmer empire
which had never even fallen under the sway of Rama Gamhen. The
prince of Tldon founded Ayudhya in A.D. 1350 with the title of
Ramadhipati I. This was the beginning of the present kingdom of
Siam, and by about 1400 the remnant of the old kingdom of Sukhodaya
had passed under the sway of Ayudhya.
We need not follow the history of Siam during the next four
centuries in any detail. This was the period during which the splendour
of the reyal city of Ayudhya was consolidated, and we find little cultural
AN OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OP SIAMESE CULTURE 15
change, even when contact with European civilization was established.

Much of its written history is occupied with the fates of dynasties, the
bloodthirsty wars against the Burmese on the west, and the less serious
ones against the Cambodians on the east. We
need only notice the
following features :
Intercourse with Ceylon continued to be on a friendly footing, and
mostly concerned with religion, and in response to the request of an

embassy from Ceylon a religious mission was dispatched from Ayudhya
in 1753 to bring about the purification of the Buddhist faith which
was said to be effete there.
Friendly relations between Siam and China existed in the latter
half of the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries.
In 1592 the King of Siam offered to send an army to assist China in a
war against Japan, but the offer was refused. It seems probable that
throughout the whole of the Ayudhya period there were occasional
exchanges of good wishes between the sovereigns of Siam and China,
the former no doubt wishing to remain on good terms with their
"
elder brother ", though never admitting Chinese suzerainty.
Cambodia ceased to trouble Siam seriously after the foundation
of Ayudhya. In fact, it usually occupied the position of a vassal
State. It ceased to have any cultural influence on Siam indeed, the
;
influence was rather the other way.

On the other hand, Burma becomes of primary importance twice
in the history of the Ayudhya period. The Siamese was first
capital
captured in A.D. 1569, after which Siam was overrun by the Burmese
for the space of fifteen years until rescued by the efforts of the hero
King Naresvara. The second and final destruction ofAyudhya took
place in 1767, after a prolonged siege. This was followed by a short
period of anarchy but fortunately a strong leader, a man of humble
birth and Chinese extraction, appeared on the scene and drove out
the Burmese. The name of this leader was Brahya Tak, and he
established his capital at Dhanapuri, on the river
opposite to where
Bangkok now stands. He ruled with a firm hand, and completely
re-established the country until, in 1782, he became insane, and was
deposed by one of his generals, Cau Brahya Cakrl, who became the
king of the present dynasty.
first
The
first three kings of the Bangkok
period (Cakrl Dynasty) were
mainly engaged in endeavouring to restore and imitate the glories
of Ayudhya, and they had little inclination to enter into relations
with foreign powers. It was the fourth king (Rama IV) who was the
first to
open up modern diplomatic intercourse with European nations,
to study English, and to introduce western material
improvements.
But he was a great supporter of the cultural institutions of his country,

and a deeply religious man who had spent twenty-seven years in the
priesthood before being called to the throne. On the whole, therefore,
the period ending with his death in 1868 may be rightly referred to as
" and that
Old Siam ", is the term I shall use throughout this volume,
to distinguish it from the new era of rapid material progress which
may be said to have really begun with the fifth reign. King Kama IV
is of special interest to us in the present work, because it was due to
his staunch faith in Buddhism that many of the State Ceremonies

received their Buddhist modifications and additions. The personal
religious inclinations of Siamese kings usually left their mark on the
State Ceremonies of the time. Thus King Draft Dharma (A.D. 1610-28)
was a great supporter of Buddhism. On the other hand, King Nara-
yana (A.D. 1657-88) is known to have favoured Brahmanism. But
perhaps no other Siamese king ever had the knowledge and ability
which enabled Rama IV to interest himself so deeply in the work
of religious reform. The later kings of the dynasty have
successfully
carried on the work of adapting Siam to new conditions, while at the
same time maintaining a respect for ancient tradition, King Rama V
having particularly endeared himself to the memory of his subjects
by the abolition of slavery and by other wise and good measures.

The following is a list of those kings who, from our point of view,
are the most important in the cultural history of Siam, and to most
of whom frequent reference will be made in the course of this book :
Important Kings of Sukhodaya

Name Reigned (A.D.)
il
Indraditya 1237-about 1270
Rama Gaihhefi 1276-1317
Dharmaraja I 1347-about 1370
Important Kings of Ayudhyd
Ramadhipati I 1350-1367
NareSvara 1590-1605
Dran Dharma 1610-1628
Prasada Don 1628-1656
Narayana 1657-4688
Paramakosa 1733-1758
Udumbara 1758-1762
AN OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF SIAMESE CULTURE 17
King of Dtianapuri
Tak 1767-1782
Kings of the Cdkri (Bangkok) Dynasty
Brah Buddha Yot Fa Culalokya (Rama I) . . 1782-1809
Brah Nan Klau (Rama III)

Mahamankut (Rama IV)
....
Brah Buddha Lo's Hla Nabalaya (Rama II) . 1809-1824
1824-1851
1851-1868
Culalankarana (Rama V) 1868-1910
Prajadhipok .....
Vajiravudh (Rama VI)
Succeeded
1910-1925
1925
The names Rama I-VI were introduced by King Vajiravudh,

and will be used in this volume to denote the first six kings of the
dynasty.
I now come to what, for the purposes of the present work, will
be the most important part of the historical outline in it I shall
;
attempt to summarize the cultural influences that have been brought

to bear on the Thai in the course of their evolution from a tribe of
nomads in southern China to their present position as the rulers of
the modern kingdom of Siam. In this summary I shall primarily
consider the development of the Thai, other races being considered
only in so far as they have influenced the Thai. The foundation on
which these influences have been brought to bear was the original
stock of primitive culture possessed by the early Thai nomads, and
later the independent Thai States in South China. This origina
stock, after having undergone centuries of foreign influence, was the
heritage of the first independent Thai kingdom in Siam, which was
founded at Sukhodaya in A.D. 1237. This heritage was in turn passed
on, not without undergoing vital change, to the second great Thai
kingdom of Ayudhya, and after the destruction of this capital in
1767 the early kings of the Cakri dynasty made every effort
to collect and restore all that was known about the culture of
Ayudhya.
While not denying the possibility of other sources of external
influence, we may divide the foreign influences, so far as they are
known, into two main divisions, Chinese and Indian.
(a) Chinese.
(1) The earliest foreign influence brought to bear on the Thai was
almost certainly Chinese. The early Thai must have 'been animists,
but how much of the animism that we see amongst the modern
Siamese peasants is of pure Thai origin, and how much was derived
from China at an early period and in later times from India, is difficult
to determine. The chronicles of the Sui dynasty give interesling
details of court life at Nanchao in which we can detect Chinese influence.
It is also important to note that, dating from the first contact of the
Thai with the Chinese, many words are common to both the Thai
and Chinese languages, e.g. most of the Siamese numerals are of
Chinese origin.
(2) The influence resulting from the interchange of embassies
during the Sukhodaya period and later was probably mainly of a

temporal nature, affecting chiefly Court manners and the style in which
foreign ambassadors were received, etc. But the door was perhaps
never closed against the exchange of cultural ideas between China
and Siam.
(3) There was a certain amount of interest in Chinese culture in
the early years which followed the fall of Ayudhya. This was perhaps
in the main due to the fact that King Tak was of Chinese extraction.
The courtyards of some of the olderBangkok temples are decorated
with the figures of Chinese sages. But this contact came too late, and
was too limited in duration, to have much, if any, effect on court usages.
It seems, therefore, that while the Chinese was the earliest influence
on Thai culture, it has in course of time become almost negligible,
since it has been swamped to such an extent by superimposed Indian
influence that few traces remain of it. The vast numbers of Chinese
coolies and merchants who have taken up their abode in Bangkok
have had no influence whatever on Siamese culture. They either carry
on life according to their own customs and often return to China, or,
marrying Siamese women, are easily absorbed by Siam.
(6) Indian.
Indian influence on Siamese culture was partly the result of direct

contact with Indian settlers, but mainly it was brought about indirectly
via the Indianized kingdoms of Dvaravati, Srivijaya, and Cambodia.
We can trace the influence of the Khmers fairly clearly, but the
other two kingdoms, especially Srivijaya, exerted a strong if undefined
influence over the development of Khmer culture, and hence of that
AN OUTLINE OP THE HISTORY OF SIAMESE CULTURE 19
of Siam, the extent of which is hardly yet realized. 1 The various

streams of Indian influence, direct and indirect, may be classified
as follows :
(1) Indian Mahayanistic influence originating in the Punjab,

and reaching Siam and Cambodia via Southern India, Srivijaya, and
South Siam. It began about the end of the first century A.D., and
probably continued well into the seventh century. It was the means
of the conversion of both Thai and Khmers to Mahayana Buddhism.
(2) Indian Vaisnava Brahmanism. This reached Cambodia during

the early centuries of the Christian era. The Thai people never became
Hindus, but the kings of Sukhodaya recruited their Vaisnava Court
Brahmans from Cambodia, and assumed much of the Cambodian
Vaisnava Court Ceremonial. This intercourse with Cambodia was
revived from time to time during the succeeding centuries.
(3) Indian Saiva Brahmanism. Waves of this cult reached the
Peninsula probably between the eighth and twelfth centuries A.D.,
and streams of later Indian settlers probably introduced modifications.
But, although Nagara Sri Dharmaraja came under the rule of King
Rama Garimen it was at that time under a Buddhist king and, as
there were also Saiva Brahmans in Cambodia, they were probably
recruited from that source. Later, during the Ayudhya period, when
Brahmanism was moribund in Cambodia, the Saiva Brahmans were
obtained from the Peninsula. After the destruction of the old capital
in A.D. 1767 both Visnu and Siva Brahmans, or at least those who were
able to escape from the Burmese, fled to Nagara Sri Dharmaraja,
whence they were recalled at the foundation of Bangkok.
(4) Sinhalese Hlnayanistic influence. This is of the utmost
importance. The Mon inscriptions of Lambun show that Peguan
influences reached Northern Siam about the twelfth century, but it
is probable that it was as a result of Sinhalese missions that the mass
conversion of both Thai and Khmers to the

Hinayana form of the
faith took place in the thirteenth century. Siamese royal customs
were also to some extent affected by the desire of the Siamese monarchs
to follow the example set by the great Sinhalese King Parakrama
Bahu. Religious intercourse with Ceylon has been kept up until the
present day.
The study of Siamese State Ceremonial which forms the subject
of this book will illustrate the nature and extent of these foreign
influences on Siamese culture. The omission of any mention of
Burmese influence perhaps calls for notice before concluding this
1
Coed&s, Recueil des Inscriptions du Siam, part ii, pp. 1-5.
chapter. After much consideration it appears to me that such is

negligible because the Siamese and Burmese have almost always been
at enmity, a mountain barrier separates the two countries, and inter-
course has always taken the form of warlike incursions into each other's
territory. The last thing the Siamese would have consciously done
would have been to copy any Burmese custom. Cultural resemblances
are entirely due to a common origin, both the Burmese and Siamese
owing much to the earlier Indian civilization of the Mons. Never-

very fact of this common origin makes the study of Burmese
theless, the
forms a by no means barren field for research in connection with the
present inquiry.
CHAPTER III
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OE THE SIAMESE

In old Siam the inhabitants of the country were considered
only as
the goods and chattels of the king, who had absolute
power over their
lives and property, and could use them as best suited his
purpose.
Otherwise they were of no importance whatever. Kather different,
however, must be the sociologist's point of view, since it is his duty
to consider the condition of a society as a whole and in this work
;
every effort is made to explain each ceremony in the light of its

functional value to the society. This being so, it will be
necessary to
give a short account of the structure of the Siamese 1
society.
We are considering the conditions in Old Siam, conditions
first
which probably altered little from the early days of Ayudhya until
the time of King Rama IV, because it was under this
regime that the
Court Ceremonial of to-day was built up and assumed its mature form.
The absolutism of the monarch was accompanied and indeed maintained
by the utmost severity, kings of Ayudhya practising cruelties on their
subjects forno other purpose than that of imbuing them with
humility
and meekness. Indeed, more gentle methods would have been looked
upon as signs of weakness, since fear was the only attitude towards the
throne which was understood, and tyranny the
only means by which
the government could be maintained.
Despite the fact that all were
equally of no account in the presence of the king, a many-graded social
organization had been evolved, and the ingrained habit of fear and
obedience produced a deep reverence for all forms of
authority. The
grading of the members of the royal family is a matter of extreme
complexity. The KM. gives a detailed account of the ranks and
privileges of the various princes and princesses, but for our
purposes
it will be sufficient to note the The sons and daughters of
following :
the king and queen, or queens, are known as Cau Fa, while those of
and^ ladies who are not queens are Brah Aiiga Cau.
the king The
children of Cau Fa and Brah Anga Cau are called Hmdm Cau. The
latter are the lowest in rank to be considered as real
princes ; for
though their children and grandchildren are known respectively as
Hmom Raja Vansa and Hmdm Pllvah, they usually drop their title
of royalty on attaining to any civil or
military rank. The children
1
Some of the facts in the earlier part of this
chapter are derived from the chapter
on "Social Organisation " in Graham's Siam, vol. i. .
21
of Hmorn fflvan are commoners ;

and here we come to a very important
point, the disappearance of all title to royalty at the fifth generation.
This was the same in Cambodia, and descendants of the fifth genera-
tion could not succeed even in the case of complete extinction of the
1
line. Nevertheless, princes of the Hmtim Cau rank are sometimes
promoted to Brak Anga Cau rank at birth.
*
Princes of the rank of
1> Is Is
Cau Fa and Brah Anga Cau, on attaining manhood, may be appointed
to any of the following ranks, in order of increasing importance :
Kram Hmu'n, Kram Khun, Kram Hlvan, Kram Brah, Kram Brahyd,
and Samtec Kram Brahyd. These ranks usually carried with them
the control of a Kram (government department), or the governorship
of a province, but they are now only titles of honour.
The highest officials in the land were the Mahd Ugardja, or Van Na,
known to Europeans as the Second King, and of whom more
willbe said in the next chapter; the Van Hldn, originally the
commander of the rear-guard and six Ministers whose titles were
;
Cdkri, Van, Baladeba, Brah Gldh, Krahldhom, and Yamardja. The

first two of these were
always princes the others were sometimes
;
royal, but usually not, and bore the title of Oknd and, later, Brahyd
or Cau Brahyd, the highest of the official ranks still in use. These
non-hereditary ranks are as follows, in descending order Samtec

:
Cau Brahyd (now extinct), Cau Brahyd, Brahyd, Brah, Hlvan, Khun,
and Hmu'n. Officials, both princes and nobles, received a certain
number of marks of dignity called sakti nd, formerly carrying a certain
grant of land, but now purely honorary, while princes and the higher
nobles are presented with insignia consisting of golden teapots and
betel-boxes, which denote their rank. The personal attendants of
the king were a body of Royal Pages, known as the Kram Mahhatkk
(Lord Chamberlain's Department), the members of which were usually
marked out for preferment; but this department was abolished by
the present king. All these officials were continually occupied in
showing the necessary amount of deference to those above them,
and to the king at the top, while mercilessly grinding down those
below them in the social scale.
The great mass of the people were divided into a number of
departments for public service, called Lekh, the members of which
were numbered and branded by the noblemen in charge of each
department. This system was the relic of an earlier feudal form of
government. The Lekh were either Svdy, the members of which
were exempted from personal service on payment of part of their
1
A., vol. i, p. 62.
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE SIAMESE 23
produce or a tax or Brhi, the vast majority of the people, who were
;
collected in rotation as required, obliged to serve as soldiers, sailors,

and other public menials, and for whom no escape was possible, the
status being hereditary. Occupying the lowest place in the social
scale were the slaves, who were either redeemable debt-slaves, or
children born in slavery or sold by their parents, and for whom there
was no release but it must be added that Siamese slavery was
;
always of a very mild type.

Anything in the nature of social intercourse or club life amongst
the members of the noble and official classes was frowned upon by
the monarchy, and social life centred round the Court alone. This
state of affairs was strengthened by the fact that royalty died out at
the fifth generation, as it still does, and that officials were always
known, not by their own names, but by the office which they held.
Thus great and influential families were never formed, and the memory
of distinguished men died with them.
The reforms of King Rama V brought about great changes, many
of them for the better, in the life of the Siamese masses. One of the
most far-reaching of these was the abolition of slavery another was
;
the abolition of bodily prostration of inferiors in the presence of their

superiors. The government and forces of defence were thoroughly
reorganized on European lines, ministers being chosen from amongst
those of the younger generation who had received a European educa-
tion. While many old offices passed away and new ones came into
being, the old official titles were often retained, but the holders began
to be known by their own names. King Rama VI continued the
work of reform and did much to create a healthy social life amongst
the- middle classes by the introduction of European games and sports.
He also endeavoured to institute pride of family by the introduction
of surnames. The women of all classes except the upper had always
been perfectly free in Siam, and King Rama VI did much to bring
about the education and emancipation of the ladies of the upper
class. He set his face against polygamy and made some progress in
persuading the nobility to do likewise. Reforms in dress were

instituted, and orders were conferred on those who had distinguished
themselves in the service of the State. In short, every effort was
made to instil into the Siamese the spirit of independence and the
pride of nationality.
We
must now consider how deeply these reforms really struck their
roots into society. That they have been crowned with a considerable
measure of success is evident from the present stability of the govern-
ment and prosperity of the people. Nevertheless, it must be
remembered that reform was mainly confined to material needs, the

relief of which has added much to the well-being of the
people. But
every care was taken to see that the cultural tradition of the Siamese
should be preserved, especially in regard to religion and respect for
the monarchy. To quote the words of Graham:
"
The absolutism of the monarchy, though outwardly modified
by the constitution decreed in 1874, and veiled behind that
consideration for his subjects which is His Majesty's chief concern,
is as complete in spirit to-day as it was in the darkest
period of
tyrannical oppression which the nation has ever endured. The
monarchy demands now, as it has always done, the most complete sub-
mission of the entire people not only to every decree issued by the
king but, in theory, to his lightest whim or caprice, and the hereditary
instincts of the race prompt it to render such obedience without
question and without resentment, no matter what sufferings such
obedience might conceivably entail." x
So great, it may be added, are these hereditary instincts, that

bodily prostration still lingers to some extent although it is, of course,
entirely voluntary. Siamese servants often crouch in the presence
of their masters, officials lie almost full length when
they are offering
anything to the King on his throne, and I have seen ladies of the
older generation crawling on their hands and knees when in the
presence of a prince of high rank with whom they held conversation

with their faces parallel to the ground, while the prince was seated
in a chair. While the old instincts thus lurk so
closely beneath the
surface there can be no doubt but that the monarchy still remains
the most important factor in the Siamese social organization.
It remains to say a few words about the religion of the Siamese
people. We need not consider those religions such as Mahommedanlsm

and Christianity which have been introduced into Siam by foreigners
in comparatively recent times. They never had any effect on the
Siamese other than to strengthen their faith in Hlnayanistic Buddhism
which has been the national religion since the Thai first became
independent in the thirteenth century. The Siamese are very devout,
but they take their religion light-heartedly, because they are a light-
hearted people. The part played in social life by the popular form of
the religion professed by the masses is familiar to those who know
anything of Siam ; so that it is unnecessary to dwell on the importance
of the Buddhist festivals frequently held at the numerous vats, or
monasteries, which still provide almost the only opportunities for social
intercourse and exchange of ideas among the country people. The
1
Siam, i, 232.
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE SIAMESE 25
yellow-robed monks are one of the most characteristic features of
every town and village as they go on their begging rounds in the

morning or take part in some cremation or housewarming ceremony.
Then again most children receive their early education in the monastery
schools, and later on it is the custom for every male Siamese to don
the yellow robe for at least a few weeks or months. Some stay on and
devote their lives to probing the deeper mysteries of Buddhism, and
in Bangkok there are monks of great learning and piety, and a
renowned school of Pali.
From our immediate point of view Buddhism is chiefly of importance
in that it has instilled into the people the spirit of humility and cheerful
forbearance which has, in times past, enabled them to bear the
oppression and tyranny of an absolute monarchy, and which, now

that conditions have changed for the better, still acts as a powerful
force in uniting in loyalty to the Throne. Thus, Buddhism in
them
its popular form a religion of the people
is in its higher form it is a
;
deeply spiritual religion, the inspiration of those who are tired of the
world and the hollowness of its attractions. It is not, therefore,
primarily the religion of kings, though it owes its growth to their
fostering protection. But, though the more material religion of the
Hindus lends itself especially to the support of kingship, and though
the Siamese people still to a limited extent respect the Brahmanic

deities, there can be no doubt as to the great sociological value of the
Buddhist modifications which have been added on to most of the State
Ceremonies, in bringing together monarch and people in mutual
understanding. This will be more fully appreciated in the course of
this book.
PART II
THE CHIEF FACTORS IN SIAMESE

STATE CEREMONIAL
CHAPTER IV
THE KINGSHIP
We have seen that the Siamese monarchy is absolute. We must
now endeavour to show on what principles this absolutism is based,
and why it has maintained such a powerful hold over the minds as
well as the bodies of the Siamese people.
The loose expression "divine", which has been popularly applied
to the Siamese kingship, requires considerable modification and analysis.
As H.R.H. Prince Damrong has pointed out in his Tdmndn Susan
Hlvah Vat Debsirindra, 1 the Siamese conception of the kingship has
always depended on the religious point of view of the people. There
may have been an earlier pre-historical pre-religious stage when kings
were evolved from magicians, but history only gives us two conceptions
the Hindu and the Buddhist.
According to the Hindu theory, the king is identified with either
Siva or Visnu, and this theory attained its greatest importance in
ancient Cambodia. 2 It was introduced into that country by Jayavar-
man II, who ascended the throne in A.D. 802, and was known as the
"
cult of the Kamrateii Jagat ta rajya (the god who is the kingdom)
or the Deva-riija (the Royal God). This deity (which was a Siva-linga)
represented the royal essence present in the living king of Kambuja
3
and in all her kings."
The Royal God was not the king of the gods (i.e. Indra), but a god of
the king, either Siva or Visnu, presenting certain peculiarities and
identified with a great ancestor or a legendary founder of the kingdom.
A similar cult existed in Central Java and in Campa, and all these
may have had a common origin in the Kunjara-Kunja in South India.
In Cambodia the posthumous titles of kings often indicated that they
had gone to the heavens of their favourite deities, such as Sivaloka
and Visnuloka and not only kings, but also other distinguished
;
persons, were frequently, from the ninth to the end of the twelfth
century, identified, even during their lifetimes, with either Siva or
Durga, according to their sex. Thus we learn from an inscription
that in the Khmer temple of Loley, the two images of Siva, which
bore the names of Indra varmeSvara and Mahapatisvara respectively,
1
Bangkok, 1927.
a
A.,iii, pp. 581-4 ; C., pp. 103 and 245 sq.
3
C., p. 245.
29
father and maternal grandfather,

represented King YaSovarman's
Indravarman and Mahapativarman. Such images, though bearing
the attributes of the god, had the facial characteristics of the persons
they commemorated and the temples in which they were preserved
;
were also portrait galleries in which ancestor worship was combined

with the worship of the god. Such images were also made by the
Thai after they became independent, and the modern representative
of such a statue hall is the Pantheon in the Grand Palace at Bangkok,
where the king and the people pay their respects on certain days to
the life-size gold images of the monarchs of the present dynasty.
True they are realistic portrait statues, and not, as formerly, idealistic
god-like interpretations ;
but this is only an innovation of the Bangkok
period.
No doubt the Khmer cult of the Deva-raja and the deification of
kings was only a highly specialized form of an earlier Indian conception

of divine kingship, exemplified by the following passage from Manu :
"
Even an infant king must not be despised (from an idea) that
1
he is a mere mortal, for he is a great deity in human form."
Again, in Narada, we have :
"
How should a king be inferior to a deity, as it is through his
word that an offender may become innocent, and an innocent man
"
an offender in due course ? 2
Still earlier, we are told that the king
" is Indra for a twofold a Ksatriya, and

reason, namely, because he
-
is
because he is a Sacrificer ". 3
And, as we shall see later, although the Khmer and Siamese kings were
identified with the later Brahmanical gods, such as Siva and Visnu,
there are features that indicate that in Siam we have survivals which
4
support Hocart's theory that in Vedic times or earlier the king was
identified with the sun.
The rise of Mahayanistic Buddhism in Cambodia brought about
no great reaction against the cult of the Royal God, although Buddhist
deities probably to a great extent supplanted the Brahmanical ones,
and we find that Suryavarman I (A.D. 1002), a Buddhist king, was
known by the posthumous title of Nirvanapada. The Hinayanistic
1
Manu, chap, vii, 8, inSBE. xxv.
2
Narada, xviii, 52, in SBE. xxxiii.
8
SatapaAha Brahmana, v, 4, 3, 7, in SBE. vol. xli, p. 99.
4
Hocart, Kingship, chap. ii.
THE KINGSHIP 31
conversion, however, brought about a definite change, and in ftiam

to-day we find the only certain relic of the cult of the Royal God in
the symbolism of the Coronation Ceremony by which the Brahman
down the spirits of Visnu and Siva to animate the new
priests call
king but possibly also in the role played by the king as iva now or
;
formerly in the Tonsure, Ploughing, and Swinging Ceremonies, and in

the Meru and Kailasa mountains used on certain ceremonial occasions.
With Hinayanism the Mahayanistic deities were not recognized,
and the Hindu gods were reduced to the rank of spirits ministering
to theBuddha, or demi-gods ruling over the inferior heavens. In fact,
though they were fitted into the Buddhist scheme of things they were
no longer taken seriously and no Buddhist king would have been
;
flattered to have been told that he was the incarnation of a Hindu

deity and nothing more. The conception of the king under Hina-
yanism is obviouslv that he is a Bodhisattva or incipient Buddha, or
else a Cakravartin (Universal Emperor), and this belief, which is still
held by all orthodox Siamese Buddhists, is derived proximately from
imitation of the great Sinhalese kings and is strengthened in the minds
of the people by the evidence of the popular Indian Jdtaka stories.
Since, according to the tenets of the Hinayana form of Buddhism,
the accumulation of merit is rewarded by rebirth in happy conditions,
just as certainly as beggars and criminals are paying for the demerit
piled up by evil deeds in former lives, one might suppose that a
Buddhist king would always be particularly careful as to the nature
of his actions, and,still being subject to the Wheel of the Law, would
probably rule more justly than would a Hindu monarch. Unfortunately,

however, history makes it quite clear that the teachings of Buddhism
were no more successful in restraining despotic rulers in Siam than
were those of other religions elsewhere, and it was always easy for a
tyrannical monarch to expiate a life of crime by forcing an army of
slaves to build a giant pagoda. Indeed, strangely enough, Buddhism
led to what is a world- wide later conception of the Divine
Kingship
associated with the most overbearing despotism. AHindu king was
regarded as the receptacle of the god, of the divine essence. He was
even identified pantheistically with the god but he was not the god
;
himself. In Buddhism the king is a Bodhisattva or a Cakravartin,

a greater being in the eyes of the Buddhists than any Hindu
god.
When added to this it be remembered that to this day the correct
" "
phrase for expressing I when addressing the Siamese king means
"
the Lord Buddha's slave ", can one wonder that ambitious monarchs
sometimes forgot the humility inculcated by Buddhism, and were
tempted to endeavour to accelerate the process of attaining complete
enlightenment, to attempt to rid themselves of the galling necessity

of showing reverence to the humble yellow-robed monk, even to
proclaim themselves the coming Maitreya Buddha ? Such attempts
have always met short shrift from the priesthood, it being such an
erior of judgment that led to the undoing of King Tak and at
;
least one similar instance occurs in Burmese history.

It will thus be understood that the condition of the people in
Siam has always depended less on the particular conception of the
kingship Brahmanical, Buddhist, or, as it later became, a mixture

of the two than it has on the character of the individual monarch.
But, broadly speaking, the functional value of the Divine Kingship,
whether from a Brahmanical or Buddhist viewpoint, is obvious to
anyone who appreciates the present state of civilization of the Siamese
masses. With an education still almost confined to the religious
sphere, and bred up on the exploits of the Indian hero Rama, the
conception of a king as a superior being, to be obeyed implicitly, is
the only one known to the ordinary Siamese. He has no wish for a
share in the government, he does not trouble about politics, and he is
as yet unfitted for any other regime than the present. It is certain,
therefore, that any conception of the kingship that strengthens his
belief in the ruling power is of the highest sociological value. That his
belief and loyalty are in the main supported by the pomp and glamour
of Royal Ceremonial will be shown in the course of this book ;
but the
present is a suitable place to consider in some detail those prohibitions
or taboos with which Divine Kingship is always hedged around and,
in surrounding it with an air of mystery and sanctity, are performing
a no less important share in its maintenance than is Royal Ceremonial
itself. The following is an attempt to analyse the functional value
and arrive at the historical derivation of those royal taboos that have
come to my notice.
1. The King's person was tabooed, more especially the head and hair.
That the king's person is too sacred to be touched is an idea
perhaps
universally connected with the divine kingship, and certainly prevalent
in all the Indian states, which is probably the direction from which it
reached Siam. In the Mahavamsa it is recorded that :
"
Going down even knee-deep into the water the king respectfully
l
gave his right hand to the them, as he came down from the ship."
The point was specially mentioned because in the ordinary way to

touch the king's hand was a crime punishable by death. In Siam at
i M.
v, 255.
THE KINGSHIP 33
the present day we have what appears to be a relic of this in the fact
that things are always handed to the king through the medium of a
golden plato or bowl, never directly by hand.
On board the royal barges there
are, or were until recently, bundles
of cocoa-nuts intended to be thrown to the king or any member of the
royal family in the event of the barge foundering, for it was forbidden
on pain of death for any person to lay hands on royalty to save them
from drowning. A well known instance of the operation of this taboo
is the tragic death of King Rama V's first queen, who was drowned
in full view of numerous bystanders who dared not save her. The
rules on this subject are indeed expressly laid down in the KM., from
" a boat (royal barge)
which I translate the following passage : If
founders, the boatmen must swim away; if they remain near the
boat they are to be executed. the boat founders and the royal
If
person falls into the water and about to drown let the boatmen
is
stretch out the signal-spear and throw the cocoa-nuts so that he may
grasp them if he can. If he cannot, they may let him seize the
signal-spear. If they lay hold of him to rescue him they are to be
executed. He who throws the cocoa-nuts is to be rewarded with forty

ticals of silver and one gold basin. If the barge sinks and some-
one else sees the cocoa-nuts thrown and goes to save the royal person,
the punishment is double and all his family is to be exterminated.
If the barge founders and someone throws the cocoa-nuts so that they
float towards the shore (i.e. away from the royal person), his throat
is to be cut and his home confiscated."
The inhibition against touching the royal head or hair seems to
be a specialized development of the general taboo against touching
any. part of the royal person. Frazer has collected much evidence
*
to show that there is a widespread taboo of head and hair; and

Siamese of whatever rank object to anyone touching the head, and
used to dislike the idea of anyone walking overhead. This belief
seems to be founded to a great extent on the supposed existence of a
spirit (khvdil) in the head, who easily takes offence at
guardian the
slightest indignity of this nature, with disastrous effects on the welfare

of the individual ;
while there is also the supposition that the hair
must be the most sacred part of the body by reason of the superior
position that it occupies, and it is evidently this belief that has given
" " " "
rise to the use of the word pham hair for I when speaking
to superiors, meaning that only the most noble part of the speaker
dares to address the superior person spoken to.
There being so much respect for the head amongst even the lowest
1
OB. iii, pp. 252 sqq.
classes of Siamese, itis not remarkable that the king's head should he
particularly sacred. As La Loubere remarks :
"
The most considerable of all (the officers of the Wardrobe)
is he that touches his Bonnet, although he be not permitted to put it
upon the Head of the King, his Master."

1
Again, while the Tonsure (Brahmanical Initiation Ceremony)

of even the poorest child is carried out with the greatest care
not to bring about those calamities which would certainly follow
any injury to the khvdn, the Tonsure of a royal prince is attended with
those elaborate rites of which some account will be given in Chapter X.
But whereas the ordinary Siamese undergoes the usual periodical
hair-cutting with no greater ceremony than does the European, the
king used not to be allowed the attention of the barber without the
due performance of certain magical rites intended to avert the evils
which might follow touching the king's head in this manner. On these
occasions certain propitiatory verses (sebhd) were, and I understand
still are, recited during the hair-cutting. Sebhd are songs of an amatory
nature, and the one recited at the king's hair-cutting is the well-known
Khun Jan Khun Phen, a scurrilous story of the illicit affairs of noble-
men and their wives, ending in the assassination of the king by the
state sword at the hands of the son of one of the noblemen, these
events being supposed to have taken place as long ago as A.D. 185.
The reading is intended to act as an admonition against possible
dangers from the barber's sharpened tools, and on such occasions it
is an old custom to use scissors with blunt points, the use of the razor
being proscribed, while to prevent other accidents the barber has to
2
put two charmed rings on his fingers. I understand that cloths are
spread around during the hair-cutting in order that the clippings

should not touch the ground, and these are afterwards burnt.
It appears to me that this taboo has in times past been the most
important of all in maintaining the mystery and air of sanctity essential

to the preservation of the idea of Divine Kingship, and that it has also
had much practical value in keeping the king's person safe from
physical harm, especially the dagger of the assassin.
2. It was taboo to look upon the face of the King.

3
Mrs. Leonowens tells us that even within the precincts of the
palace the concubines would turn away their faces at the King's
4
approach. Kaempfer mentions that
1 2
L. L., p. 102. Ge. (i), p. 64 fn.
8
The English Governess at the Siamese Court, London, 1870.
*
Kaempfer's History of Japan (1690-2), trans, by Scheuchzer, edn. of 1906, i, p. 21.
THE KINGSHIP 35
"
If one happens to chance to meet the King, or his Wives, or
the Princess Royal in the open fields, he must prostrate himself with
his face flat to the ground, turning his back to the Company, till they
are out of sight."
Until the rule was abolished by King Rama IV, it was prohibited for
any person to watch a royal procession. Lattice fences were erected
along the route in front of the houses of the people, and the populace
was obliged to keep out of sight behind them. They were not even
supposed to peep through the interstices of the fences, although such
minor breeches of the law were winked at because they seived the
valuable purpose of allowing the people to be impressed by the majesty
of royalty from a safe distance. But any loiterers who were so
unfortunate as to be caught by the lictors were summarily chastised
with bamboos, and Europeans were usually informed well in advance,
and advised to take a side street in order to avoid unpleasantness.
This taboo no douot had an eminently practical value for the safety
of a tyrannical monarch who could never be sure of the loyalty of his
oppressed subjects, and it required a strong king who had endeared

himself in the hearts of his people to break through this tradition.
Another characteristic of royal processions, which may be attributed
to the same lurking fear, and which was very evident down to recent
times, was the hustling and disorderly appearance of the mob of
courtiers and favourites who crowded round the royal palanquin
during the progress.

The taboo by which all subjects had to remain prostrate with eyes
averted when in the king's presence may also be mentioned under this
heading, but we shall speak of it more fully in the chapter devoted to
Royal Audiences.
All the variations of this taboo were common to Cambodia and
Burma ; probably also to Ceylon, since Knox wrote in 1681 :
"
When they come before him they fall flat down on their faces
to the ground three several times, and then they sit with their legs
under them upon their knees all the time they are in his presence."
The taboo was also in force in China, but it seems probable that the
nations of Indo-China received it from India, the underlying idea
being that no ordinary mortal could endure the glory of divine

majesty, such idea being expressed in the following passage from
Manu :
"
Because a king has been formed of particles of those lords of
the gods, he therefore surpasses all created beings in lustre and, ;
like the sun, he burns eyes and hearts nor can anybody on earth even
;
l
gaze on him"
1
Manu, vii, 5, 6.
Here Manu only goes so far as to compare the king to the sun. His
predecessors probably identified the two.
3. The King was not supposed to touch the ground.

John Struys century remarked of the king
in the seventeenth
"
that he never sets his foot upon the Earth, but is carried on a Throne
of Gold ".! Groslier states that the same taboo prevailed in
Cambodia and Knox wrote that the King of Ceylon never went out
2
;
except in procession, rarely ridingon a horse or elephant, usually on

a palanquin. We have strong evidence in the Satapatha Brdhmana
for the derivation of the taboo from India :
"
As long as he (i.e. a king) lives, he does not stand on this (earth
with bare feet). From the throne-seat he slips into the shoes and ;
on shoes (he stands), whatever his vehicle may be, whether a chariot
3
or anything else."
The theory on which this taboo is based is that the king, being
divine, should move in a god-like manner, and perhaps it is a relic
of the time when the king represented the sun, for the resemblance
between a man suspended in the air by the power of iddhi and the
sun occurred to some Indian minds. 4 And the operation of this
taboo must at all times have done much to strengthen the air of
mystery surrounding the kingship.
4. It was taboo to inquire after the King's health.

This was because one was not allowed to presume that the King
could be subject to the ills of the flesh as were ordinary mortals. In
the same way it was taboo to allude directly to the death of the King,
the term used to express this event being satec svargagata, meaning
"to migrate to heaven". Illness and death are perhaps the greatest
dangers that Divine Kingship had to face hence the enormous value
;
of this taboo, the necessity of keeping the people in ignorance of the

fact that kings have but mortal frames. As will be shown in a later
chapter, the main functional value of the elaborate royal cremation

ceremonies hinges upon this taboo, since their effect on the popular
imagination is, or was, to produce the impression that the king has
merely been translated in full regal state to a nobler plane.
Amodification in this taboo has taken place only in very recent
times. During the last illness of King Rama nothing was known V
1
Struys, chap, iv, p. 30.
2
Gr., p. 337.
8
atapatha Brahmay,a, v, 5, 3, 6, and 7, in SBE. vol. 41, p. 128.
4
Hocart, Kingship, p. 163.
THE KINGSHIP 37
outside the palace as to the seriousness of his condition, a contrast

to that of the late King Rama VI, during which bulletins, which
entered into a surprising amount of medical detail, were issued almost
hourly.
5. Taboos in connection with food.

11
No
one can enter the kitchen of the palace when the food is
being prepared and a confidential officer seals the plates, and
;
accompanies them to the dining room. The king alone can break
the seal, but before eating, the officer must taste the dishes ere his
1 '
l
Majesty will touch them.
I was informed by the late King's chef that this taboo still remains
in force, though in a modified form, the chef being entrusted with
breaking the seals when the food is brought into the dining room.
These precautions have, of course, a purely practical value, and as
such have found favour amongst kings and rulers the world over ;
but appears that, quite apart from any instinct for material self-
it
preservation, Siamese kings formerly respected the Indian idea of

defilement and used leaf -platters, which are now only used in ritual. 2
The Indian Law Givers, however, laid down very definite rules on the
subject of the protection of kings against poison, as the following
passage from Manu shows :
"
There he may eat food (which has been prepared) by faithful
incorruptible (servants) who know the (proper) time (for dining),
which has been well examined (and hallowed) by sacred texts that
may destroy poison. Let him mix all his food with medicines (that
are) antidotes against poison, and let him always be careful to wear
3
gems which destroy poison."
6. // was taboo to spill royal blood.
When by command of the king, as was not

princes were executed
uncommon Old Siam, and when tyrants were deposed and met a
in
like fate, ordinary modes of execution were taboo. It was usual to
beat the royal victim on the back of the neck with sandal-wood clubs
until he was dead, tie him up in a skin sack loaded with a heavy stone,
and throw him into the middle of the river. According to Pallegoix 4
the fate of faithless concubines was the same, except that they were
1 "
Brugui&re, Annales dc la Propagation de la Foi," trans, in Chinese JRep., xiii,
April, 1844.
2
Gerini, Impl. and Asiatic Quarterly Reciew, x.
8
Manu, vii, 217, 218.
4
P. i, p. 271.
not killed before being placed in the sacks, and were thus thrown into
the river alive.
This taboo must have had a certain indirect value with regard to
the preservation of the kingship, for, though it concerned only a
deposed king, a disgraced prince or concubine, nevertheless it must
have helped to maintain respect for royal blood, or rather the blood
of a person who had once been considered as
royal, or who had been
closely connected with royalty. But the significance of this form of
execution, as explainedby the Siamese, is Buddhist. The murder of
any animal, even an insect, is a terrible sin in the eyes of a strict
Buddhist, and much more so is the murder of a man while to kill ;
a king, a Bodhisattva, under any circumstances, would make the

most hardened Siamese criminal shudder with the mere thought of
the infinite store of demerit which such action would bring upon the
shoulders of the murderer. True, a deposed king is no longer a king
especially in Siam, where, at least until very recent times, the con-
ception of the kingship meant everything, the personality of the
individual monarch little or nothing nevertheless the fact that there
;
was a certain relationship between the deposed king and the kingship
can have hardly escaped the mind of the executioner. Thus the
method of executing royalty without actually spilling their blood seems
to have been dictated as much by a desire to avoid
possible consequences
in a future state, as from any
feelings of respect. Such a peculiar method
of reasoning is supported by the theory that blood is the vehicle of
life, and to let the blood escape is the most obvious method of inviting
death ;
which reminds one of the Siamese fisherman's excuse that he
does not actually kill the fish, but
merely takes them out of the water,
after which they proceed to die of their own accord.
7. The personal name of the King was taboo.

The King's personal name was considered too sacred for common
use and this had the effect of strengthening the conception of the
;
Divine Kingship. The long string of Sanskrit and Pali titles 1 which
were added to the King's personal name after Coronation were neither
known nor understood by the common people ; therefore it was usual
to refer to the "
King by some term signifying Majesty ", such as
Brah Can Yu Hua (The Lord over Our Heads), or Can Jwitra (Lord
of Lives), and it may be mentioned here that Brah Can is also the
term used to signify God, whether Hindu or Christian, and Buddha
(Brah Buddha Gdu). After death, and while awaiting Cremation, the
late King was distinguished from the
reigning king as Rrah Can Yu
1
For full style and title see p. 105.
THE KINGSHIP 39
Hua not Pammakosa (The Lord within the Urn). This name has
gone down to history in the case of one of the later kings of Ayudhya,
who has since been known as King Paramakosa (A.D. 1733-68), his
real personal name evidently not having been known to the Court
chroniclers.
The first three kings of the present dynasty are not known to
have had any personal names, each one being known for some time
after death as Brah Can Yu Hua not Paramakosa, while later
they
came to be distinguished as Brah Cau Rdjakdra di hntiii (Lord of the
First Reign), etc. It was King Rama IV who gave them the
posthumous Buddhist names, Brah Buddha Yot Fa, Brah Buddha

Lo's Hla, and Brah Nan Klau, by which they are now known, and
which signify that they were Bodhisattvas. He also was the first to
allow the people to refer to the reigning monarch by the personal
name, e.g. Mahamankut, Culalankaraiia, etc., but it never was nor
has yet been accepted by the masses, who still prefer to refer to past
kings of the dynasty by the number of the reign. King Vajiravudh
attempted to simplify matters by instituting a method by which ail
the kings of the dynasty should be referred to as Rama, a word which
occurs in the royal style of every king of the dynasty, the individual
monarchs being distinguished as Rama I-VI. This method has
naturally been found convenient by Europeans, but the present King
prefers to be known by his personal name, Prajadhipok.
8. It was taboo to use words of the common language, or common modes

of address, when speaking to or about the King and princes.
-
As in most Oriental languages, there is a complete set of words,
or palace language (rdjasdpda), possibly resulting from a desire to
create a special vocabulary differing from the one in common use.
These Court words are mostly of Sanskrit origin, this language having
been freely requisitioned in the effort to escape the vulgar but when ;
Siamese contains a word of Thai origin and another for the same thing
that is of Khmer origin, it is the latter which is considered the polite
form, a fact which indicates that during the early years of Thai
independence the Khmer was considered more proper for use at
Court. 1 The following are the main classes of words which have a
special Courtform 2 (a) All parts of the body, e.g. Foot, ordinary
:
word dau, Court word brahpada. (b) Articles belonging to and used
by royal persons, e.g. Clothes, common word so'a-phd, Court word
1
Graham, Siatn, i, 277.
2
B. 0. Cartwright, Manual of the Siamese Language, Appendix H.
chaloh'brahanga. (c) Articles of food and drink, e.g. Tea, common

word nam-ja, Court word brah-sudhdrasa-rdn. (d) Words expressing
relationship, e.g. Father, common word bo, Court word brah-janaka.
(e) Most verbs of bodily action, e.g. to eat, common
word kin, Court
word sevay to go or come, common word pai, ma, Court word sadec.
;
(/) Names of certain animals, fish, fruit, and flowers, e.g. buffalo,
common word gvay, Court word krahpu'd.
The modes of address when speaking to royalty are very elaborate,
e.g. when speaking to the king the correct pronoun of the 1st person
" "
is khd brah buddha can, meaning I, the slave of the Lord Buddha
(i.e. the king) of the 2nd person, ttn fa lahon dhuli brah pdda,
;
"
meaning the dust beneath the sole of your august feet ", and
signifying that the speaker does not dare to address the king himself,
but only the dust beneath his feet.
The palace language was once an efficient means of maintaining the
gulf fixed between the king and his people an ever present reminder
;
of his superiority to those who came most closely in contact with him,
and hence were most likely to forget themselves and become familiar.
It is still in use to-day, especially in Royal Proclamations and Official
Notices, but the elaborate forms of address when speaking to royalty

have lost much of their literal significance and are regarded merely
as correct and polite forms of speech.
9. For male Royal Children of over 13 or 14 years of age to remain in

the palace was taboo.
This was the case in Siam up to the reign of Rama IV, as is

mentioned by Mrs. Leonowens. The same statement is made by
1 2
Bruguiere and Pallegoix. In Campa
"
the sons, brothers, and more important officials of the king had
no immediate access to his person. This was apparently due to fear
of being assassinated by them." 3
This was not, however, the only reason, and probably not even the
main reason, at least in Siam. Far more important was the fact
that the palace was a city of women, and no males but the King could
be tolerated there. No doubt this taboo succeeded to some extent
in fulfilling the objects for which it was intended, but it also engendered
an atmosphere of suspicion, precluded that degree of filial affection
1
Annales de la Propagation de la Foi.
8
P. i, 270.
3
R. C. Majumdar, Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East, vol. i, Champa, 1927,
chap. 14.'
THE KINGSHIP 41
known and by banishing young princes to

to western civilization,
outlying provinces provided them with opportunities for rising in

rebellion.
10. Taboos relating to the conduct of persons when near the palace.
In Siam, archers, whose ammunition consisted of balls of clay,

were so placed that they could oblige all, even nobles, to lower their
1
umbrellas, and boatmen to kneel, when passing the royal palace.
At Mandalay there was a rule that all must lower their umbrellas as
soon as they came in sight of the prasada spire which surmounts the
throne room. In Cambodia, 2 at a distance from the palace, the
boatmen must bend over their oars, the horsemen walk, and the
pedestrians close their umbrellas. None may enter the palace untidily
dressed or overdressed in bright colours, or with a flower or feather
behind the ear. Obviously this taboo had the effect not only of
of
inculcating respect, but also of preventing the too close approach
disaffected persons.
It will be concluded from what has been said above that these
taboos performed two very important functions, (a) they maintained
the air of mystery and sanctity surrounding the Divine Kingship, and
(6) they acted in a strictly practical manner, preserving
the lives of
individual monarchs. Some of the taboos performed only one of these
functions, but most of them combined the two. But though their
sociological value was great, we must not take them too literally, for,
although some of them are survivals of a very ancient conception of
Divine Kingship, Siamese kings in the historical period probably never
regarded them seriously except in so far as they afforded them personal
safety and strengthened their power as rulers. Indeed, they were
good and they were also men of considerable common
sociologists,
sense. They knew that they had romped about on the ground as
children without any ill-effect, that they had gone barefoot during
theirterm in the monastery, and, in a country where the wearing
of shoes was not a comfort, no doubt they often did walk about with
bare feet, at least in the palace grounds, even after ascending the
throne. In modern times the King walks in private life as frequently
as most people in this age of motoring, but on state occasions, except
when following the Urn at the late king's cremation, he walks only
on holy ground, e.g. when he has dismounted from his palanquin and
is entering or leaving a temple. Again, in the Coronation Ceremony
1 P. a
A. 59.
i, 269. i,
the King publicly places the crown on his head with his own hands, but,
at the conclusion of the Coronation Audience, after the curtains have
been drawn and the King is surrounded only by his pages and
chamberlains, he permits his attendants to relieve him of his crown,
and in undoing the fastenings they can scarcely avoid touching
his head. This I particularly noticed on the occasion of the Coronation
Audience of the present King, when, being in my official uniform of
the Chamberlain's Department, I was the only European present
behind the curtain. The point which I wish to emphasise is, therefore,
that it was always of the greatest importance that these taboos
should be strictly observed in public, since it was then that they were
of the greatest sociological value. In private life, when they were in
danger of becoming mere useless burdens, they might, and perhaps

always were, considerably relaxed. Even at the present day it is of
the utmost importance that many of them should continue to be
publicly observed since any ill-advised modifications or abolitions are
bound to react unfavourably on the popular respect for the kingship.
We will now endeavour to form a picture of the daily life of the
divine monarch and for this purpose we will first make use of the
details concerning the life of King Rama IV
supplied by Mrs. Leon-
owens 1 who was probably the only European who was ever in a position
to obtain such information. We are not concerned with the personality
of this King in particular, nor of any Siamese king, but only with the
facts about his mode of life. It need only be said that not only was
King Rama IV the last of the old school, but he was also an extremely
learned and pious man, who had spent twenty-seven years in a
monastery before being called to the throne. It is probable, therefore,
that he reached more closely the ideal, somewhat difficult; of
attainment, of what a king should be.
Mrs. Leonowens states that the King, as well as most of the principal
members of his household, rose at five in the morning, and immediately
partook of a slight repast, served by the ladies who had been in
waiting through the night after which, attended by them and his
;
sisters and elder children, he descended and took his station on a long
strip of matting, laid from one of the gates through all the avenues
to another. On
the king's left were ranged, first his children in the
order of rank then the princesses, his sisters
; and lastly his con-
;
cubines, his maids of honour, and their slaves. Before each was placed
a large silver tray containing offerings of boiled rice, fruit, cakes, and
the seri leaf ;some even had cigars. A little after five, the Pratoo
Dharmina (Gate of Merit) was thrown open and the Amazons of the
guard drawn up on either side. Then the priests entered, always
by that gate one hundred and ninety-nine of them, escorted on the
1
The English Governess at the Siamese. Court, 1870, Chap. xi.
THE KINGSHIP 43
right and left by men armed with swords and clubs and after humbly
receiving the offerings they parsed out by the other gate, Pratoo Dinn.
After this the king and all his company repaired to the Chapel Koyal,
where His Majesty alone ascended the steps of the altar, rang a bell
to announce the hour of devotion, lighted the consecrated tapers,
and offered the white lotus and the roses. Then he spent an hour in
prayer, and in reading texts from the Prajna-paramita and the
Pratimoksa. This service over, he retired for another nap, attended
by a fresh detail of women those who had waited the night before
being dismissed, not to be recalled for a month, or at least a fortnight,
save as a peculiar mark of preference or favour to some one who had
had the good fortune to please or amuse him but most of that party
;
voluntarily waited upon him every day. The king usually passed
his mornings in study. His breakfast, though a repast sufficiently
frugal for Oriental royalty, was served with awesome forms. In
an antechamber adjoining a noble hall, rich in grotesque carvings
and gildings, a throng of females waited, while he sat at a long table,
near which knelt twelve women before great silver trays laden with
twelve varieties of viands soups, meats, game, poultry, fish, vegetables,
cakes, preserves, sauces, fruits, and teas.
jellies, Each tray, in its
order, was passed by three ladies to the head wife or concubine, who
removed the silver covers, and at least seemed to taste the contents
of each dish and then, advancing on her knees, she set them on the
;
long table before the king. At two o'clock he bestirred himself, and
with the aid of his women bathed and anointed his person. Then
he descended to a breakfast-chamber, where he was served with the
most substantial meal of the day. There he chatted with his favourites
among the wives and concubines, and caressed his children. Then
he passed to his Hall of Audience to consider official matters. Twice
a week at sunset he appeared at one of the gates of the palace to hear
the complaints and petitions of the poorest of his subjects. At nine
he retired to his private apartments whence issued immediately
peculiar domestic bulletins, in which were named the women whose
presence" he particularly desired, in addition to those whose turn it
'
"
was to wait that night. Twice a week he held a secret council,
or court, at midnight.
For the life of a king of the Ayudhya period we have the following
information concerning the habits of King Narayana :
He always rose at 7 a.m. exactly his pages washed and dressed

;
him and he worshipped the Buddha. After breakfast he went into

the council chamber and stayed there until noon. He then had his
midday meal. He was then undressed and washed and was lulled
to sleep by music, to be awakened at 4 p.m. His reader then came
and read history to him, sometimes for three or four hours. If he
was in the capital [Ayudhya] he did not go out except for a walk in
his gardens unless it was a day of state ceremonial. Sometimes ho
visited the palace ladies and stayed with them until 8 p.m., when it
was time to meet his counsellors again. He deliberated with them
until midnight and then had his supper (if he had not taken it
previously) and went to bed. When he was in residence aft his dry
season resort Louvo [Labapuri] his reading usually ended at 5 p.m.,

and after that he went put for a ride on an elephant. He was also very
fond of hunting tigers and elephants. 1
Naturally a young and active king would prefer to spend a good

deal of his time hunting, while an older and more strictly Buddhist
monarch would give up more of his time to study ;
but from the
regularity with which both the kings above-mentioned
followed a
definite daily programme, it is not surprising to find that there is laid
down in the KM. a time-table which kings were supposed to follow.
"
The following is my translation of the passage At 7 a.m. 2 he
:
goes to the Glorious Throne and the palace ladies attend him at 8 he ;
partakes of food at 9 he goes to the place for meeting the monks

;
where the palace ladies offer them royal bounty, attended by lictors ;
at 10 he calls for food to eat and goes to sleep he remains inside ;
until 1 p.m., when he goes for a walk. At 2 the royal ladies old and
young enter the palace and attend upon him. At 3 the ministers of
10,000 to 800 bakti nd grade confer with the king on matters of State.
At 4 he goes At 5 he goes to meet the monks. At 6 he goes
for a walk.
to the inner palace to discuss internal affairs. At 7 he judges military
matters, and at 8 he judges civil matters. At 9 he judges
appeals. At 10 he calls for food. At 11 soothsayers (hord) and the
royal pandits (rdjapdndita) discuss the law with him. At 12 music
is played to him. At 1 a.m. they read history to him. At 2 or 3 he
retires to sleep until 7 a.m."
Now of great interest to find that in Ancient India kings were
it is
also supposed to follow regularly ordered lives, in accordance with

rules laid the law-givers. Dr. Barnett, summarizing the
down by
evidence provided in the Kautiliya-artha-sdtitra, Mahdbhdrata, and
other early Indian literature, gives the following time-table for the
daily life of an Indian king :
"
The day and night were each divided into eight ndlikds (about
1J hours). During the first ntilikd of the day, he was expected to
examine accounts of receipts and expenditure and arrangements for
defence during the second, the business or suits of his subjects ;
;
during the third he bathed, dined, and studied religious texts in ;
the fourth he received cash in payment of revenue and attended to

the appointment of officials in the fifth he corresponded with his
;
councillors and considered the report of secret agents the sixth was ;
given to amusement and prayer ;

in the seventh he reviewed his troops :
1
Gervaise, The Natural and Political History of Siam (1688), Eng. trans, by H. S.
O'Neill, 1929, part iv, chap. 4.
8
The day was divided into twelve hours (n&lik&\. and the night into twelve
hours (ditm).
THE KINGSHIP 45
and he discussed military plans with his commander-

in the eighth
in-chief. In thenalikd of the night he received reports from
firat
secret agents in the second he bathed, supped, and studied
;
in ;
the third the signal was given for the royal couchee, and the fourth
and fifth were spent in sleep in the sixth he arose, and prepared
;
himself for the day's labour by meditation in the seventh he ;
considered the working of his administration, and gave his orders

to secret agents, and in the eighth he went into court after receiving
the blessings of his priests and preceptors, consulting with his
astrologer, physician, and head cook, and reverencing with circum-
ambulation a cow, calf, and bull." l
The general resemblance between the above and the rules laid
down in the KM. is very striking, and can leave little room for doubt
but that the latter was modelled on Indian principles. But it is all
rather formal, and before leaving the subject I should like to
quote what Manu has to say on the subject, for his very human
document gives a-rather fuller picture, and indicates in certain passages
that Indian kings were no fonder of obeying the letter of the law laid
down for them than were many of those who ruled over Siam. Manu
first makes it clear that the main object of the existence of kings was
for the protection of their subjects, a fact often sadly forgotten both
in India and Siam :
"2. A Esatriya, who has received according to the rule the

sacrament prescribed by the Veda, must daily protect this world.
"
3. For, when the creatures, being without a king, through fear
dispersed in all directions, the Lord created a king for the protection
of this whole (creation)."
But of course this protection was to be exercised mainly for the

benefit of the Brahmans :
"
A
king shall offer various (sraitta) sacrifices at which liberal
79.
and in order to acquire merit, he shall give
fees (are distributed),
Brahmanas enjoyment and wealth."
Coming then to the daily programme, he lays down as follows :
"
145. Having risen in the last watch of the night, having performed
(the rite of) personal purification ; having, with a collected mind,
offered oblations in the fire, and having worshipped Brahmanas,
he shall enter the hall of audience which must possess the marks
(considered) auspicious (for a dwelling). 146. Tarrying there, he shall
gratify all subjects (who come to see him by a kind reception) and
afterwards dismiss them; having dismissed his subjects, he shall take
council with his ministers. 147. Ascending the back of a hill or
a terrace, (and) retiring (there) in a lonely place, or in a solitary forest,
let him consult with them unobserved. 216. Having consulted with
his ministers on all these (matters), having taken exercise, and having
1
Antiquities of India, p. 98.
bathed afterwards, the king may enter the harem at midday in order
to dine. [Here follow the instructions for eating already quoted.]
219. Well-tried females whose toilet and ornaments have been
examined, shall attentively serve him with fans, water and perfumes.
220. In like manner let him be careful about his carriages, bed, seat,
bath, toilet, and all his ornaments. 221. When he has dined, he may
divert himself with his wives in the harem but when he has diverted
;
himself, he must, in due time, again think of the affairs of state.

Adorned (with his robes of state), let him again inspect his
222.
men, all his chariots and beasts of burden, the weapons, and
fighting
accoutrements. 223. Having performed his twilight-devotions,
let him, well armed, hear in an inner apartment the doings of those
who make secret reports and of his spies. 224. But going to another
secret apartment and dismissing those people, he may enter the
harem, surrounded by female (servants), in order to dine again. 225.
Having eaten there something for the second time, and having been
recreated by the sound of music, let him go to rest and rise again at
the proper time free from fatigue. 226. A king who is in good health
must observe these rules but, if he is indisposed, he may entrust
;
1
all this (business) to his servants."
Making due allowance for the passing of the power of the Brahmans,
the rise of Buddhism, and the modifications incidental to changing
conditions generally, one cannot but be struck by the remarkable
resemblance between the life ofan ancient Indian monarch and that
of a Siamese king, at least up to the middle of the nineteenth century.
In all the above accounts the chief occupations of a king may be
classified under three headings (1) Duties to religion, especially in
:
connection with the State Ceremonies, which form the main subject
matter of the present volume (2) Duties to the secular government,
;
especially in the matter of conferring amongst his ministers and

granting audiences, to which a special chapter will be devoted ;
(3) Recreation, especially in the harem. This institution was of such

great importance that it will be necessary here to consider its history
and functional value in some detail.
Mrs. Leonowens has given us in her two books 2 a vivid picture
of life in the royal harem during the reign of King Rama IV, but her
writings are unfortunately biased by a mid- Victorian viewpoint, and

much missionary zeal. With such an outlook the life of many individual
members of the harem appeared full of pathos, but that this was to a
great extent the product of her European imagination might have
dawned on Mrs. Leonowens when she speaks of the wonderful fortitude
with which they bore the hardships of their lives. She forgets that
this was a time-honoured institution in the country, not only in the
1
Mann, chap. vii.
2
The English Governess at the Siamese Court, London, 1 870 ; The Romance of
Siamese Harem Life, London, 1873.
THE KINGSHIP 47
royal, but also in the noble families ; that the members of the harem
had for the most part known no other conditions, and having but a
very limited knowledge of the world were quite contented with their
lot, which seemed to them the acme of royal favour. It is true that
there was severity, even cruelty, in punishing breaches of discipline,
but this was inevitable in the inner life of the harem where it was
preserve much of the atmosphere of mystery surrounding
difficult to
the kingship, and only the strong hand of the man could sustain the
dignity and power of the divine monarch.
The harem of King "Rama IV was on a much smaller scale than
were those of his predecessors. An interesting note as to its constitu-
tion, based on information supplied by that king himself, was published
in Bangkok five years before his death :
"
There have been altogether 27 royal mothers in the king's family :
one of them had 7 children, two of them each five, another 4, two
of them 3 each, four of them 2 each, and all the others but one each.
His Majesty has at the present time 34 concubines. Each of these
receives a government salary designed for the support of her own
person, not including her children. The most that any one of them
receives is 1200 ticals, and the least sum is 120 ticals. The aggregate
of their salaries is 12700 ticals. Besides these 34 concubines, there
are 74 daughters of noblemen, who have been presented to the king
by their fathers, with the view to serve as maids of honour. These
receive salaries from government according to their supposed individual
merits, amounting to 6440 ticals. When any of them desire to exchange
their situation for one out of the palace, with freedom to marry or
otherwise, they may obtain the privilege by requesting it of the king.
His Majesty has granted many such requests since he began his reign." l
There were also elderly women who acted as judges in the case
of disciplinary offences, mistresses charged with the education of the
younger concubines, and a host of slaves and amazons of the guard.

There were no eunuchs and no man except the king ever entered the
small town which was reserved within the palace for the harem. In
this preserve there were streets with shops, a garden with model
houses, and a lake with miniature boats, all intended to be a replica of

the outside world, and which for many of the concubines constituted
almost their sole idea of its appearance. The concubines were known
"
as Nan Ham, that is to say Women Forbidden " (to leave the
palace),though in the reign of King Kama IV it was possible for them
to obtain permission to leave the palace on special occasions. It was
then usually contrived that they could see without being seen, and
there was a strict taboo against any man touching the body of a
1
Bangkok Calendar for 1863, p. 38.
concubine. Not only did a certain amount of amusement and education,

among beautiful surroundings within the palace, make the lives of the
concubines less burdensome, but regular business was assigned to them
which kept them from being idle. Of course, there were petty
jealousies and quarrels, as was only to be expected where the main
object in life was for one to obtain the position of favourite at the
expense of the others. Sometimes there was real affection between
the King and his favourite concubines, but, in any case, should a
concubine (cdu com) become the mother of a royal infant (brah anga),
she was known as cdu com mdrta, and her position was assured. Some-
times, indeed, a favourite attained such a position in the estimation
of the King that she was able to sway his judgments, and became a
powerful influence in the administration of the State ; but only after
a favourite concubine had lived with the King for a considerable time,
and had maintained her place in his affections, could she be elevated
to the position of queen. An exception was made in the case of a
lady of royal birth, who would be elevated to the queenship without

submitting to this period of trial. There were normally four queens
at the same time, a greater and a lesser of the right, and a greater
and a lesser of the left, and the ceremony of their installation, which
has some features in common with marriage, will be dealt with in
connection with the Coronation. But there was no religious ceremony
of marriage at any time in the life of a concubine, and really no such
ceremony is practised by any class of Siamese. Thus Bo wring was

"
right when he stated that no religious rites accompany the marriage,
though bonzes are invited to the feast ". 1 The tying of the wrists
with coloured cords not is
peculiar to marriage, and the feast in which
the monks participate is a ho use warming feast, and not a marriage
ceremony. feast symbolizes the entry upon life in new
This
surroundings, and is performed by the king and his concubines or
" "
queen (who may have already been married for years) immediately
after the coronation at the time of theassumption of the royal residence.
Marriage in Siam, for both prince and commoner, is a non-religious
civil contract, and is made binding by the handing over of the bride
by the parents and the commencement of her common life with the
bridegroom. The signing of a register and other formalities are merely
the recent introductions of the late king, Rama VI.
We come now to an important consideration, that of the king's
methods of obtaining his concubines, and in this connection will
quote from the writings of a Siamese author of the third reign :
1
Bowring, Siam, London, 1857, vol. i, p. 118.
THE KINGSHIP 49
"
'
When the king would obtain a Nan Ham (that is one inferior
to a queen) he does not send a delegation to request her from the
family of a prince of equal rank with himself nor does he make a
;
wedding for her, and erect buildings for her abode and pleasure, as
the common people do. Sometimes he sees the girl with his own eyes,
and sometimes another person brings him a report, that in such
a family is a beautiful girl, whose father and mother were formerly
connected with noble stock. [Evidently an allusion to the fact that
titles of royalty cease at the fifth generation.] The king, if he be
taken with the account given of her, sends a messenger to beg that
he may be allowed to conduct her to the royal palace, tp have her
schooled and trained, and then inaugurated as a Nan Hdm. Some-
times the parents of a girl, thinking it would be a great good to have
the king for a family prop as a son-in-law, are pleased to make an
offering of their handsomest daughter, or grandchild, or niece, to
the prince as the honourable station of a royal concubine. This
is quite a common way or mode by which the king obtains his
many
wives. Again, another prolific source of the royal concubines, is the
custom, when a prince has ascended the throne, and become established
in his reign, that all his nobles and lords, even down to the khuns
and hmfrns, present each his most beautiful daughter or niece to the
king, for the purpose of having her serve him as a Nan Ham. In
consequence of this custom, the royal concubines of the kings of Siani
have ever been very numerous, numbering many hundreds, and even a
thousand and upward to each." x
In analysing the functional value of the harem, we must first

realize theimmense respect in which this time-honoured institution
was held by the people in all the States affected by Indian civilization,
-and that it was held to be one of the chief appanages of royalty
from a very early period in history. " Can he be a king, or even a
"
noble, or lord, and not have a multitude of concubines ? inquires
the Siamese author from whom we have already quoted, and it is
clear from this, which until recently represented the opinion of the
Siamese of all classes, that one of the sociological functions of the
harem was to maintain the dignity of royalty. In the Siamese Life
of Buddha we read :
"
Then the Sakya Princes acknowledged his wondrous skill, and
presented their daughters to be his wives, and he was invested with
the royal dignity, and the beautiful Yasodhara became his Queen.
He passed his days in honour, luxury, and comfort no cares assailed
;
him, and his beautiful Queen, and the lovely daughters of the Sakyas,
2
unceasingly strove to promote his happiness."
In all this one notices a strong Siamese flavour, an expression of
the Siamese traditional opinion as to what should be the ideal of
& king's feminine entourage. Conditions were similar in Cambodia
1
Translated in the Bangkok Calendar for 1864, p. 69.
8
Alabaster, The Wheel of the Law, London, 1871, p. 121.
and no doubt represented the ideal which the early Thai kings strove
to emulate. Cheou Ta-kouan, the Chinese who travelled in Cambodia
in the thirteenth century A.D., remarks that the king had one chief
wife, four for the cardinal points, and 3,000-5,000 concubines.

1
On
the bas-reliefs of the great temple at Banteai Chhma are represented,
amongst other scenes, kings reposing in their palaces amongst women
of the harem. The institution was equally well developed in the
great Hindu State of Vijayanagar in the Middle Ages ;
Fernao Nuniz,
2
writing about 1535, noticed the large number of women in the king's
harem, and also that women filled most posts in the palace, such as
astrologers, musicians, wrestlers, secretaries, cooks, judges, bailiffs,

watchmen, and amazons. But, unlike Siam and Cambodia, there
were also eunuchs. The Laws of Manu take us a good many centuries
further back, and the quotations above made from that source show
us the harem as already regarded as a very important royal institution.
We now come to another and perhaps more important function of
the harem. We have seen that it was mainly composed of the daughters
of noble families, and the result of this was to unite the nobility to
the Throne by marriage, and thus to secure their loyalty. The
concubines were practically hostages for the good behaviour of their
families, and could spy in the king's interests into the intentions of
their relatives. This was a two-edged sword, for a girl might be more
loyal to her family than to the king, but as a general rule the harem
was undoubtedly a powerful instrument for the maintenance of
justice and internal peace in the country. The individual might
sometimes suffer, but for the good of society as a whole the harem
played an important role.
One aspect of the harem remains to be dealt with its effect on :
the efficiency of the monarch and whatever this might be it would

;
be bound to affect the well-being of the State. It would really depend

almost entirely on the personality of the individual king. A strong-
minded ruler like Rama IV would realize that the harem was a sacred
institution of his country, and would be unlikely to lapse into
sensuality,
but we know from history that such was the temptation to which
many a weaker monarch succumbed. Such a possibility was obviously
realized and guarded against by the ancient law-givers when they
commanded : "He must not take delight in hunting, dice, women,
and drinking." 3
Before concluding this chapter it will be necessary to notice the
1
A. iii, pp. 645 sq.
2
Quoted in Sewell's Vijayanagar, pp. 382-3.
8 "
Institutes of Vishnu," iii, 50, in SBE. vii.
THE KINGSHIP 51
changes in the conception of the kingship and the life and duties of
the King that have been brought about by contact with western
civilization during the last few decades. As would be expected from
the fact that the present King was educated in Europe, his tastes
are largely European, and his private life that of any modern European
monarch, in fact practically that of any ordinary English gentleman.

This also applied to the late King Rama VI, and the example set by
these two modern Kings has been followed by the younger generation
of the nobility, and we now have a growing upper class in Bangkok
educated on European lines, some of whose members, however, have
not been so successful as their royal leaders in knowing what to adopt
from western culture and what to discard as unsuitable. In my opinion,
however, this change has not as yet had any great effect on the masses,
since, whenever the King shows himself to the people on great state
occasions, he stjll appears in procession, riding on a palanquin,
surrounded by all the traditional accompaniments of majesty, and
this is the picture which still remains indelibly impressed on the minds
However, a reform of far-reaching

of the vast majority of his subjects.
importance which has undoubtedly adversely affected the kingship

in the popular opinion, was the abolition of the harem, for this, as
we have seen, was far more than an institution of the King's private
life. The harem served its purpose as a means of maintaining peace
and order in Old Siam, but with the centralization of the government,
and the improvement of communications, it became an anachronism.
Nevertheless, the reform is not yet complete, and the masses of the
people have not yet been educated up to accepting it. Part of the
honeycombed city of women still stands within the walls of the Grand
Palace, and there still reside a few old ladies, survivors of King
Kama V's harem, with two or three old amazons to guard them from
intrusion, though, of course, they are perfectly free to go and come
as they please ; and, among the older generation of the nobility, the
harem still though modified by the fact that women of the
flourishes,
upper class have now more education and freedom. Indeed, when
King Kama VI attempted to introduce compulsory monogamy and
the registration of marriages, he was met by so much passive resistance
that he wisely decided not to proceed with the measure. He himself
remained entirely celibate until the last year of his life, and his only
offspring was a daughter born two days before his death. King
Prajadhipok, though married in 1917, is still childless, and this state
of affairs, being so contrary to Siamese royal tradition, is a matter of
deep concern to his subjects. Indeed, it might not be too much to

say that the abolition of the harem is by far the greatest blow that
has so far been struck at the traditional conception of the Siamese

monarchy. I do not wish, however, to lay undue weight on this
unfortunate fact, nor to conclude this chapter on a depressing note,
and I therefore desire to emphasize that the
present King carries
out his other traditional duties with truly remarkable zeal. Despite
the increased complexity of the government and the fact that details
must often be worked out by subordinates, the King still closely
supervises his ministers, and holds frequent cabinet meetings while ;
in the sphere of religion no king could be more meticulous in

carrying
out his somewhat arduous duties.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER IV
This will be a convenient place to mention a remarkable office,

that of the Mahd Ugardja or Van Nd, commonly known to Europeans
as Second King, an office which demands our consideration because
the individual who held it was invested with
some of the appurtenances
of kingship. He was
primarily a general who held command of the
vanguard, while the Van Hldn, the third most important personage
in the realm but vastly inferior in status to the Van Nd, was the
commander of the rearguard. The Mahd Ugardja became the chief
councillor of the King, and was usually his eldest son. It has
frequently
been wrongly stated by European writers that the Second King was
the brother of the King, but this was only the case when the
King's
sons were minors. He was, in fact, the Crown Prince. He was entitled
to an umbrella of five tiers, had a splendid palace l and court of his
own, and almost unlimited access to the treasury. His coronation,
called upardjdbhiseka and corresponding to the
yauvardjdbhiseka of
Epic India, was in most respects a copy, on a smaller scale, of that of
the King; but the latter performed an important part in it, and
himself handed the regalia to the Ugardja. Formerly the Van Na
did not receive a ceremonial bath at his coronation, nor was there a
Liap Mo'ah, or state progress around the walled city ; but this was
inaugurated by Rama IV out of affection and respect for his brother,
Brah Bin Klau, the Van Nd of the fourth reign. 2
Some interesting information about the Mahd Upardja in the
seventeenth century is given by La Loubere, 3 who regarded him as a
Viceroy who represented the King and performed the King's functions
during his absence, as, for example, when he was at war. He noticed
1
The palace of the Uparaja at Bangkok is now the National Museum.
8
Siam Repository, Oct., 1871.
* 8 L. L., p. 95.
THE KINGSHIP 53
that he was the only officer who had the right of sitting in the King's
presence. Though it is probable that the office existed in the Sukho-
daya period, the earliest specific mention of it in Siamese history is

in 1484, but it is also referred to in the Sakti Nd Law of
1454, where it
is stated that the Van Na held 40,000 acres of land, ten times as much
as the highest 1
officials. The title was common in all the States of
Indo-China, including Burma, and ismentioned in the Mahdvamsa.
It originated in India,
many examples of the anointing of an heir-
apparent being known from Indian literature. 2
It is easy to understand the functional value of such an office as
that of the M
aha Upardja in a State governed an absolute monarch.by
The position of an Oriental despot must often have been one of almost
insuperable difficulty and the moral support of one on whom the
;
King could rely for an opinion unbiased by flattery or self-seeking,

and with whom he could converse on
something approaching an equal
footing, must, in a country where the highest official was but as dust,
have been not only a great personal comfort to the but also a King,
valuable aid to the stability of the government. Then
( again, the
King could send the Van Nd on military expeditions with perfect
confidence, and when himself absent could leave the Second
King
in the capital to
discharge the affairs of State. Bruguiere states that
the Van Nd remained in the Supreme King's palace, sword in hand,
to guard it when he was out. 3 The value pf this can be well appreciated
in a country where a
King could never be certain that on his return
from a state progress he would not find an
usurper enthroned in his
place. It is remarkable that throughout Siamese the history Upardja
and the King always seem to have remained on such
perfect terms of
amity. One may attribute this not only to the careful selection exercised
by the King in his choice, but also to the fact that the Van
Na, enjoying
as he did such a vast measure of
power and wealth, would scarcely be
likely to think it worth while to risk his all by aiming at the supreme
position.
The office of MaM Upardja was abolished by King Kama V on
the death of the Second Kingof the fifth reign. With the greater
trust that he was able to place on his loyal and better educated
ministers who were deeply attached to him by ties of personal affection,
and with his desire to model his administration on the methods of
western government, he naturally saw that no ends could be served
by retaining the institution.
1
Wood, History of Siam, p. 92.
2
ERE. i, p. 20.
3 "
Annales de la Propagation de la Foi," trans, in Chinese Hep. xiii, April, 1844.
CHAPTER V
THE COURT BRAHMANS 1
We will begin our study of the Siamese Court Brahmans by
considering them as they are to-day. They are a small body of men
whose duties lie mainly in connection with those Ceremonies of State
that are not wholly Buddhist. One can discern in their features a
trace of Indian Brahman blood but, since no female Brahmans ever
accompanied them from India, they intermarried with the people of
the country, and so this trace of Indian blood is now but
slight. They
wear their hair long, in the form of a chignon, and on ceremonial
occasions don the Brahmanic cord and wear white (a Siamese lower
garment, called phd-nuh, together with a white jacket, embroidered
with silver flowers in the case of the head -priest). They represent two
sects, the Vaisnavas (Brahmana Brdhipasa) and Saivas (Brahmana
Bidhl), but they have in Bangkok three temples in one enclosure, the
larger one (that on the south) being dedicated to Isvara (&va), the
middle one to Ganes*a, and the northern one to Narayana (Visnu),
the houses in which the Brahmans live being in the The
vicinity.
temples are rectangular buildings with Siamese roofs, and with the
insides of the walls plainly whitewashed. At the western ends of each
of the temples there stands an altar, while in the middle of the &va
and Visnu temples there stand two upright posts to which a small
swing-seat is suspended on certain ceremonial occasions. The altar in
the Siva temple (PL I) is the most elaborate, and supports a number of
interesting bronze images of Siva and Uma, sheltered beneath a white
canopy, from the four corners of which depend white lace curtains.
In front of the altar are several stands for flowers and other
offerings ,
to the right and left of which are situated gilded

figures of Siva astride
the sacred bull Nandi. Formerly some images of Harihara were
enshrined within this temple, but they have now been removed to the
National Museum. Some of the other images were
probably brought
1
As stated in Chapter I, the Buddhist monks now play a very important part
in most of the great State Ceremonies, but this is usually in connection with those
modifications and additions which have
mostly been introduced in later times. The
duties of the monks on these occasions consist
mainly in the recitation of texts from
the scriptures, the study of which could net be
adequately dealt with in the present
work. I therefore refrain from devoting a special
chapter to the consideration of the
Siamese Buddhist monks, but shall have
something to say as to such rites as they
do perform when suitable occasions arise in the body of the work.
54
PLATE I.
THE ALTAR IN THE SIVA TEMPLE.

a
o
(M
O
&
M
a
CO
fi
w
^
H
H
over from India, but these images of Harihara are certainly the most
interesting and the most important historically, because they are
definitely of Cola period, i.e. they date from about the tenth century
A.D. 0nthe altar in the middle temple are some large images of
Ganesa, while in the northern temple there is a statue of Visnu, flanked
by two modern figures of his saJcti.
The Court Brahmans speak only Siamese, and do not understand
Sanskrit, but they have corrupt Sanskrit texts usually written in an
Indian character (PL II), which some of them are able to read.
They
have also one hymn in Tamil, written in an Indian character, but this
language they likewise do not understand. It is known, however,
that in the Ayudhya period, there were Brahmans who did understand
these Indian languages. The texts which the Siamese Brahmans now
possess are the Sanskrit and Tamil mantras (hymns) with instructions
in Siamese for the preliminary rites intended to be used in
daily
worship, and as an introduction to the more important ceremonies.
A few decades ago they had other manuscripts which gave instructions
for all the State Ceremonies, but these were carried off
by a certain
family of Brahmans who left the royal service. This family was headed
by the then head priest, whose name I am told was Urn. An attempt
was made during his lifetime to recover the books, and to this end his
mother was caught and imprisoned. In order to secure her release,
the manuscripts of which the National Library has
copies (i.e. those
dealing with the preliminary rites) were returned but the others,
;
although almost certainly still in existence, cannot be recovered

because the Government does not nowadays like to cause a
commotion by attempting to obtain them by force. The Brahmans
now use those books that were returned to
them for all purposes, and
since theydo not understand Sanskrit they mumble both instructions
and mantras indiscriminately. There is now no daily
worship in the
temples, and the Brahmans perform the State Ceremonies without
the aid of written instructions since they or their fathers have seen
the rites performed in the days when the other books were extant.
Fortunately, King Rama V had access to these treatises, and made
use of them in compiling the BRB. Alabaster, who also must have
had access to a larger range of Brahmanical literature than we have
to-day, remarks that there are frequent references to, and (supposed)
quotations from the three Vedas (Trai Beda) and the sdstras. They
reject the Atharvz Veda as did Manu.
1
I am indebted to Mr. P. S. Sastrl, the Indian Sanskrit scholar on
the staff of the Royal Institute at Bangkok, for the 2

appended list of
1
The Wheel of the Law, p. 176.
2
See p 63.
the Brahmanical MSS. in the possession of the National Library. As

already stated, they refer only to the preliminary rites, now used for
all State Ceremonies, the instructions being in Siamese, the mantras
in corrupt Sanskrit, written usually in the Indian character, but
sometimes in Siamese. The only Tamil mantra is the " Opening
the portals of Kailasa ", which is written in the Indian character.
There are also yantra diagrams (Pis. IV and V) for use in connection
with the ritual, as will be mentioned in later chapters.
I have shown specimens of the Indian script, in which most of the
mantras are written, to Dr. L. D. Barnett, who is of opinion that
they are Pancjyan, and may be ascribed to a period not later than the
middle of the thirteenth century A.D. These have not yet been
but I here give two examples of the corrupt Sanskrit
transliterated,
mantras which were written in Siamese characters, and which I have
transcribed in Roman characters as follows :
/. Yak utup pot hyai, kldh

1
II
AhvdnnafigaJisuvdnnaJigdnnahgdnnd vicavicarahnam gahtdgahtd-
mahhahvdn ndmamiitatimutatitdm salirahnigahtiturosahrahnigahti-
tdm mahldm sahrahnivahnituniydmbhdkgd hahriomavijaivijaiyahmdde
mahJidkraildt pahtinahhdkraildkgahndkhoe pahtinikgahndsdnndkgah-
ndrdyayah pa^riyahmdrahdopahti. Ydmmali supahrigahgdntumapahri-
dahrdnto dahyebhahkumgahribhahkum pahritapittdnydneydnesdttrund sd-
mndsdmbhaiyahtohsdmbhaiyahmuhaimuhaiyaM
Idmbunadahretnetteracdtuvahtera sahjinlahmdvasinteravahtera muddtta -
rdtdahrahmdtdaJtgumdsdn sdddhdtera dabrahmdtasdttruvindtasdhndm
mahhdriomasahvdttindtagahtindta porammahrdkhdpahtipdtdpah."
2
II. Yak utup saJithdn brah ndrdyana
4 '
SukahrikaJirahd'ugdndosutcdsutcd mikkahrahpahtdmprahsdmbhd-
grahbkdldm prahsdmbhddirorakydksdkprahbhammciJiyak mahUkkahtd-
nusddocdnmoddahkotdivdso mahnatjotgahtojogahtd nekgahndndcdnmah-
dahkotdahvddivd mahnahjotgafadhingaJiherd dirdmodivisiddhiyd pahrah-
nikumpahrahnikhdnsdttahtiddnbun pahrahnigahsahrdnnisahneb bhah-

lahcdnlahdolahddn %ahrind,mdndahldbhiribramamdr ndkkhdnndkurd-
sahvdvisahvdsasu sunahgirislsdttahlahsdttahnaiyahne hahriombrammd-
' '
ratahvilailahthipdtahparamardjd.
1 This Siamese title means " Making offerings in the large (Siva) and middle
(GaneSa) temples".
2
This Siamese title means " Making offerings in the Visnu temple ".
PLATO III,
rapfwd froitt ft ,!!>? M. W/>? in thi* Xitfwtmf Library,

by ifintl jn>nnitiioH <>f Ji ft 11 Prince l>tnn>n\i
YA NT HA BlAClBAMR,
1, Yatifrn representing the stove used in the luwm riles (see p. 72).
2, Yantrft representing the mouiut used in the Kal.itikeyti Pestival (wee p. 29O),
4
8. Yfiutrn represent ing fniichti-yiiryn (see p, 25*J),
(To face pay? 50.

IV,
e if ft'ft rripl in t/ir Xnrtj tl Libwtry,

o/ //,/!',//, Prut f)tnnruH</.
YA NTIf A
1. Frtwlfrt rc v proHonting iho nliu* planetary deities.
2. Yanlra iiiHt-rlhtwl on the stone mortar (nee p. 252).
8* Yanira placed in tho ilvor wattT-poi (see p, 252).
It will be noticed that the above mantras retain traces of metrical

composition, and here and there we can trace perfectly correct
Sanskrit words, e.g. paramardjd, which concludes the second mantra.
It has already been remarked that most of the State Ceremonies
show a blending of the two religions, Buddhism and Hinduism, which
was intensified in the reigns of such staunch Buddhist kings as Dran
Dharma (1610-28), and Rama IV (1851-68), and it is not surprising,
therefore, to find that the Court Brahmans are also Buddhists, and
that before they can undergo the ceremony of initiation and wear the
Brahman girdle, they must pass through the novitiate as Buddhist
monks, and it is also this fact that they are Buddhists as well as
Hindus that prevents them from carrying out any animal sacrifices
m connection with their rites.
The ceremony of initiation to the Brahman priesthood is still
performed, being known as Pvaj Brat. It consists of two stages, the

first of taking the cord of three
strings, and the second of taking the
cord of six strings. I have had no opportunity of witnessing the
ceremony, but was able to photograph in its entirety the manuscript
which purports to deal with the subject.
The following is a mention of the ceremony of Pvaj Brat in Siamese
history of the Ayudhya period :
"
In 912 Chulasakarat [A.D. 1530], the year of the dog, on the
second of the waxing of the eighth month, the King Somdet Phra
Mahachakrapan had the ceremony of Pathamakamma (inauguration
of Brahmans) performed at the place Tha Deng. Phra Karmavaca
was teacher of unauspicious lore [sic]', Phra Bijettha was teacher of
the eight requirements Phra Indra was judge. In 915 [A.D. 1533],
;
the year of the bull, in the seventh month, the Majjhimakamma

fsecond step in the inauguration of Brahmans) was performed at
Jainadburi." 1
The only other places where Brahmanism is still found in Siam

are Nagara Sri Dharmaraja and Batahlun in the Peninsula, where
temples of the kind above described still exist but in times past there
;
were Brahman temples in the ancient capitals and in the main

provincial centres. This brings us to a point where we must consider
the history of Brahmanism in Siam in order to understand its function
at the present day and the low estate to which it has fallen.
In India we know that the Brahmans early achieved ascendancy
over the other three castes, that they were the repository of all Hindu
learning, and that by this means, although they never attempted
openly to take over the business of temporal government, they made
themselves to be considered as indispensable to the ruling caste, the
*
1 "
Baiisavahtara of Hlvan Prasocth," in JSS. t
vol. vi, pt. 3 (1909).
"
Ksatriyas. Let the king in all matters listen to the advice of his
"
astrologers ordain the Institutes of Visnu l and Manu prescribes
;
as follows :
"
78. Let him appoint a domestic priest (purohita) and choose
officiating priests (ritvig) they shall perform his
; domestic rites and
sacrifices for which three fires are required. 79. A king shall offer
various (srauta) sacrifices at which liberal fees (are distributed),
and in order to acquire merit he shall give to Brahmanas enjoyment
and wealth." 2
In the last sentence we notice the emphatic injunction that the

officiatingBrahmans must be liberally rewarded this is characteristic ;
of the Brahmans, who never gave their services for

nothing. But in
order to make it quite clear that it was not derogatory to their
dignity for them to accept such payment, it was necessary for them to
admit the divinity of the king. Hence we have the statement from
Narada that,
"
those who being acquainted with the divine nature of a king, endowed
with majestic dignity as he is, accept gifts from him, do not in the
least disgrace themselves (by doing so)."
But, despite this, no doubt is to be entertained as to the relative

positions of the King and the Brahman in the scale of holiness :
"
In this world there are eight sacred objects a Brahman, a cow,
:
fire, gold, clarified butter, the sun, the waters, and a king as the eighth.
These one must always look up to, worship and honour them personally,
and turn the right side towards them, in order that one's existence
3
may be prolonged."
The Brahman and the King are, in fact, both offshoots of the same
primitive idea, the divinity of the chief. Sometimes the one and
sometimes the other obtained the ascendancy, and hence we have to
coin the terms priest-king and king-priest. Of the former we shall
see many examples in the priestly functions of the
King of Siam, for
the latter we have
to turn to Ancient India, or at least to Ancient
Cambodia, where the Brahmans were strong enough to interfere with
the temporal government. There were ceremonies of consecration for
both kings and priests, but whereas the king identified himself with
Indra, the Brahman was Brihaspati, the purohita of the gods. 4
The ascendant position attained by the Brahmans in India was
for some time maintained by those who ventured overseas and settled
in the States colonized by Indians in Indo-China. In Cambodia the
1 2
Hi, 75, in SBE., vol. vii. Manu, chap. vii.
3
Narada, xviii, 53-5, in SBE. xxxiii (Minor Law Books).
4
Hocart, Kingship, London, 1927, chap. x.
Brahmans for many centuries maintained a powerful hierarchy.
They were the only one of the four castes that was really organized,
this caste having taken form in the fifth century and been constantly
1
augmented by immigrants from India. In the days when Yasovarman
was king (acceded A.D. 889), Saivism was predominant, and we learn
from the following inscription that the Brahmans still enjoyed a
position similar to that which was theirs in India :
"
This king, well- versed (in kingly duties), performed the Koti-
homa and the Yajnas (Vedic sacrifices), for which he gave the priests
2
magnificent presents of jewels, gold, etc."
The Royal God, though founded by Jayavarman II

cult of the
(A.D. 802), did not reach the height of its development until some
two centuries afterwards, and was especially associated with
Vaisnavism and the temple of Ankor Vat. This cult led to the
Brahmans enjoying an even more exalted position. The Cambodian
hierarchy was established by Jayavarman II, and the priesthood
became hereditary in the family of ivakaivalya, who enjoyed immense
power ;indeed, this sacerdotal dynasty almost threw the royal
3
dynasty into the shade. Brahmans were depicted on the reliefs of
Ankor Vat and Coedes has identified Drona and Visvamitra amongst
them. 4 In one of the reliefs which illustrates a royal procession, it is
interesting to note that the Brahmans are the only onlookers who do
not prostrate themselves before the king, as was also the case in
India. 5 This is very different from the rule in later times in Siam,
for their proximity to the King's person and their dependence on his
protection made them
the most subservient members of his Court,
and, in modern ceremonial they still prostrate themselves as in Old
Siam. Another point of interest that we learn from the reliefs of
Ankor Vat and Ankor Thorn is that not. only the Brahmans, but also
the aristocracy wore the chignon, the lower classes having short hair. 6
One very remarkable sign of the power of the Brahmans during
the Ankor period is that, contrary to the modern custom, by which
princesses of the royal blood rarely marry, formerly alliances were
common with the Brahmans 7 and up to the present day there
;
is a tradition amongst the Bakus, who are the descendants of the

ancient Brahmans, that in the event of the royal line failing, a successor
would be chosen from amongst them. 8
A. 2 3
iii, p. 548. C., p. 114. C., p. 80 sq.
Coedes, Les Bax Reliefs d' Angkor Vat, Paris, 1911, plates xii and xiu.
"
Delaporte, Cortege Royal chez les Khmers," Revue de Qeog., 1878.
7
Gr., p. 58. A. iii, p. 531.
Aymonier, Histoire de L'ancien Cambodge, 1920, p. 178.
As early as the reign of Jayavarman V (A.D. 968) we find evidence

of the admixture of Mahayana Buddhism with the cult of the Royal God.
"
The purohita should be versed in Buddhist learning and rites.
He should bathe on the days of the festivals the image of the Buddha
and should recite Buddhist prayers/' l
And the rites and duties of the purohitas remained a mixture of

Hinduism and Mahayanism until the introduction of Pali Buddhism
in the thirteenth 2
century, after which this powerful sacerdotal caste
degenerated with their religion to the position occupied by the modern
Bakus. 3 But the Brahmans of Cambodia
perhaps never sank so low
as did those of Campa, where " In the Po
Nagar Inscription (No. 30)
we read that the king's feet were worshipped, even
by Brahmanas
and 4
priests ".
Though the Thai were Buddhists, their kings surrounded
them-
selves with the appurtenances of Khmer
and recruited their
royalty,
Court Brahmans from Cambodia. For centuries, indeed, Brahmanism
enjoyed quite an important position for although Buddhism was the
;
religion of the people, and was protected by the kings, Hinduism was
still considered as essential to the
monarchy, and so received a great
share of royal favour. The famous
inscription (about A.D. 1361) of
I mentions the king's
King Dharmaraja knowledge of the Vedas and
of 5
astronomy while the inscription on the Siva statue found at
;
Kamben Bejra records the desire of King Dharmasokaraja to exalt

both Hinduism and Buddhism. And this is as late as A.D. 1510. 6
During the Ayudhya period, as has already been mentioned in
Chapter II, Court Brahmans were recruited from time to time, both
from Cambodia and from the Peninsula (gaivas). With the final
destruction of Ayudhya Brahmans who had escaped the
in 1767, those
clutches of the Burmese fled to
Sri Dharmaraja, whence King
Nagara
Tak, on the re-establishment of the kingdom, recalled them, and
endeavoured to collect all that had survived of their ceremonial lore,
a difficult task, since many of their books had been
destroyed by fire
at the fall of Ayudhya. But few of the Court Brahmans who had
very
officiated at Ayudhya survived, the tradition was
broken, and most
of those who took service at the Court of Bangkok were the descendants
of comparatively recent arrivals.
Thus, in comparing the Brahmans
of Bangkok with those at
Phnompenh, the modern capital of Cambodia,
Aymonier rightly says :
J a A.
C., p. 163. iii, p. 591. A. iii, p. 614.
4
R. C. Majumdar, Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East, vol. i,
Champa, 1927,
chap. 14.
6
Coeds, Les Inscriptions de Sukhodaya, 1924, p. 98. Ibid., p. 159.
THE COURT BRAHMANS
'
61
"
Unlike the Brahmans of Cambodia the Siamese Brahmans are
not a once powerful religious caste, but have been brought in
relics of
1 and
later (from Ligor elsewhere) to conduct the court ceremonies
2
in imitation of other courts with an Indian ceremonial."
Thus it is that we cannot expect to obtain much information

concerning the history and significance of the State Ceremonies from
that somewhat indolent and unintelligent body of men, the modern
Court Brahmans of Bangkok. Nevertheless, though they are so
ignorant, we owe them a certain amount of respect for what they
represent, and, had they any pride in the tradition of their forefathers,
the Siamese Brahmans might take comfort in the words of Mann:
"
Ignorant or learned the Brahman is a great deity just as Fire is ;
a great deity whether used sacrificially or not."

Since the tendency after the foundation of the present Siamese
capital has continued to be in the direction of the exaltation of
Buddhism at the expense of the older religion, many of the purely
Hindu ceremonies were discontinued after the fall of Ayudhya, with
consequent diminution in the importance of the Brahmans. But the
status of the priests during the Bangkok period itself seems to have
changed little
indeed, this would
; scarcely be possible, short of their
complete abolition, and our earliest account of the Bangkok Brahmans,
that of Crawfurd, who visited Siam on an embassy in 1821, might almost
apply to the present day. One of the Brahmans informed Crawfurd
that he was
"
the fifth in descent from his ancestor who had first settled in Siam,
and who, according to his statement, came from the sacred Island
of Ramiseram, between Ceylon and the Main." 3
At the present day some of the Brahmans have a tradition that their
ancestorscame from Benares, and it is quite possible that both these
accounts are true, and that there are now in Bangkok descendants of
Brahmans from both North and South India. In any case such
traditions are certainly interesting as evidence of late immigration
from India, whereas the modern Bakus of Cambodia have lost all
tradition of such immigration. At least the head priest at Phnompenh
recently informed Prince Damrong quite seriously that his ancestor

came from Mount Kailasa (the traditional home of Siva) !
The duties of the Brahmans of ancient India may be classified

under three headings (1) Those of chief chaplain (purohita) to the
:
king, a post held by the head priest (2) those of the astrologers or
;
1 2
Nagara Sri Dharmaraja. A. ii, p. 32.
3
Crawfurd, Embassy to Siam, London, 1828, p. 119.
soothsayers (hord) and (3) those of the officiating priests (ritvig).

;
No doubt at an early period in Siam, as well as in Cambodia, the office

of purdhita was held by a Brahman, but this was not the case during
the Bangkok period, since the Brahmans had no longer any power.
Under the old regime, however, that is to say prior to the modernization
of the government, there was an office of purohita, but I understand
that it was held by a non-Brahman. On the other hand, the
prognostications of the astrologers were considered to be of the greatest
importance before contact with western science in the nineteenth
century undermined the king's credulity. Siamese history of the
Ayudhya period contains frequent mention of various supernatural
omens which had to be interpreted by the Brahmans and no king ;
would have thought of embarking on any important undertaking such

as a military expedition without making sure that his soothsayers
considered the day and hour propitious. At the time of the accession
of the late king and even of the present one good omens such as
the advent of a white elephant were eagerly looked for, while in one
State Ceremony at least, the First Ploughing, soothsaying still exists
in its ancient form. But these features have been retained on account
of their popularity with the uneducated masses ;
and one cannot
imagine a modern Siamese king seriously consulting his Brahmans.
Indeed, the rather complicated work of calendar-making and fixing
the auspicious dates for the State Ceremonies is really quite beyond the
capabilities of themodern Brahmans, and so this duty is now performed
by a non-Brahman official who holds the office of royal astrologer
(one only), and is known as Brahyd fiord. One cannot help remarking
how convenient his appointed times usually are, and, in fixing a
propitious date for the King's recent visit to America, one might hazard
a guess that he took the steamship schedules into consideration !
The office of purohita having long ago been abolished, and that of
astrologer having passed into non-Brahman hands, there remain to
the present Siamese Brahmans only the duties of officiating priests to
be performed. It is obvious that so long as State Ceremonial retains
itspresent form a corps of Court Brahmans will remain essential, and,
in making it possible for the King to continue to maintain the pomp
and dignity inseparable from absolute monarchy, these priests still
perform a very important function for the benefit of the society as
a whole.
A LIST OF CONTENTS OF THE BRAHMANICAL MANUSCRIPTS IN THE

NATIONAL LIBRARY, BANGKOK
"
Vol. A. The Worship of the Eight Directions."
"
Ja Klom Hansa."
"'
Khap Mulagni Yaksa."
u "
Opening of the portals of Kailasa (" Po't brahtu Sivalaj ").
"
Vol. B. Puja klan."
"
Panca gavya."
"
Vastu puja."
"
Kalasa puja."
tk
Kumbha puja."
"
Rajahamsa puja."
"
Mahagaiiapati pujii."
" "
Consecrating the water of allegiance (" Jon n^m brah
bibardha sacca ").
"
Vol. C. Hamsa Puja."
4t
Navagraha puja."
"
Homakunda."
u
Nlrajana piija."
44
Hanuman m.intra."
"
Prajya puja."
"
Vol. D. Brah avisut."
"
Puja murai."
"
Pvaj brat."
" " t{
Closing the portals of Kailasa (
Pit brahtu îvalai").
Vol. E.
tk "
Inviting the gods (Anjo'fi brah dan pvan).
Brah Yarnbhu " (- Hvw brah yambhu
tk
Worship of ").
fct
W orship of
7
Siva, Uma, and Vinayaka."
" 5
Candra Namaskara.'
"Veda" ("Veda tin tin").
" "
Vol. F. Festival of Elephants (
4 -
Gusati sanveyalc loin jan ").
" "
(" Yak Utup ").
Vol. G. Raising the Utup
" "
OfEering flowers at the three temples (" Thavay dok
mai poth hyai poth klan le sahthan brah narayana ").
Most of the names

of the mantras are Siamese, and hence are not
the original ones ; they have, in fact, often been
changed, so it is
difficult to identify them with those used
by King Rama in BRB. V
PART III
CEREMONIES OF
INSTALLATION
CHAPTER VI
CORONATION x
THE MAIN CEREMONIES
1. The Succession.
The Succession to the Throne of Siam is, in theory, regulated
by
the law of A.D. 1360,
according to which the eldest son of the queen
shall have precedence over all other members of the 2
royal family.
Owing to the frequency of its violation throughout Siamese history
resulting from usurpation by a powerful noble or the outcome of a
struggle for supremacy amongst the surviving sons of a king, the
student of Siamese history might hardly
suspect the existence of
such a law. Again, when the heir
apparent was of tender years, it
was frequently found necessary to put a stronger man at the head of
affairs, and it was then the king's brother that became Heir
Presumptive (Van No). Such was the condition at the end of the
seventeenth century which misled
Kaempfer into supposing that
"
By virtue of the ancient laws of Siam, upon the demise of the
King, the crown devolves on his brother and upon the brother's death,
or if there be none, on the eldest son.'* 3
1
The following aro the chief Siamese sources for the study of the Coronation,
and have been of the greatest value to me in the preparation of this and the
following
two chapters :
"
(1) Ray kara
labial brafr raja bidhl paramarajabhiseka chalo'm brah raja mandira
(brah pada samtec brah paramindra mafia prahjadhipak brah pak klau cau yu hua)
e sadec liap brah nagara."
(Programme of the Coronation, of the
Assumption Boyal
Residence, and State Progresses of H.M. King Prajadhipok.) Bangkok, B.E. 2468
(A.D. 1926).
(2) "The Coronation of His Majesty Prajadhipok, King of Siam, B.E. 2468,"
being extracts from the above translated into English with commentary ; together
with notes on the Installation of the Queen, by H.H. Prince Dhani Nivat.
(3) "Kathmay hetu brah raja bidhi paramarajabhiseka samtec brah ramadhipati
srisindra maha vajiravudh brah mankut klau cau yu hua."
(Record of the Coronation
of King Vajiravudh.) Bangkok, B.E. 2466
(A.D. 1924).
(4) "Brah raja bahsavahtara kruh rdtanakosindra rajakal dl sbn." (History of
the Second Reign of the Bangkok
Dynasty), by H.R.H. Prince Damrong, Bangkok,
B.E. 2459 (A.D. 1917).
To which I may add that I was fortunate in
being present in Bangkok at the time
of the Coronation of King
Prajadhipok, and witnessed most of the more public parts
of the ceremony.
*
JSS., vol. vi (1909), pt. 3, p. 5.
*
8
Kaempfer, History of Japan, edn. of 1906, i, p. 36.
67
In the Bangkok period, the succession has gone more in accordance

with the law, five of the seven monarchs having succeeded their fathers.
Of the other two, one, King Rama III, was successful in depriving his
elder brother of his rights, but the latter ruled after his death as
Rama IV while the present King succeeded by reason of the fact
;
that his elder brother (Rama VI) died without male offspring. The
Court Circular for 25th November, 1926, the date of the death of the
late King, made known the accession in the following words:
"His Royal Highness the Prince Prajadhipok of Sukhodaya

succeeded to the throne in accordance with His late Majesty's
commands as confirmed by a meeting of the Royal Family and the
Cabinet in special joint session last night."
Thereupon the new King, in accordance with custom, left his own
not as yet
palace and took up his residence in the Grand Palace, though
in the State Apartments.
It has been remarked above that the law prescribes that the
successor shall be the eldest son of the queen (of the principal queen, if
there be one), not simply the eldest son of the king.
more than At
first
sight this certainly suggests the existence of a system of matriarchy,
is no
but, whatever may have been the case in the remote past, there
evidence for such a system having been recognized during the historical
is quite incompatible with a
period. The recognition of matriarchy
social system in which, at least by the upper classes, women are
considered as being of no account other than as the chattels of their
lords. It is true that kings sometimes married their half-sisters, but
there was no obligation for them to do so, and indeed, they rather
preferred not to do so because of
the greater deference with
which they had to treat such a queen. They chose whom they liked
from among their concubines for promotion to queenship the queen ;
owed her position solely to the king's favouritism and it entirely ;
depended on the king's choice whether the successor was the son
of
a sister or merely the son of a promoted concubine. Again, kings often

installed their predecessor's wives in their own harem. This has been
regarded as a sign of matriarchy, but in Siam it appears

in historical
times to be due to the fact that any alternative would be fraught with
danger to the king's position.
It is important to note that matriarchy apparently did prevail
in some of the more ancient States of Indo-China. In Burma,
Furnivall l cites a number of supposed relics of a matriarchal system,
both in history and modern custom, including marriage of kings
i
Journal of the Burma Research Society, vol. i
(1911), pp. 15sqq.
CORONATION 69
with half-sisters and inclusion of the late king's concubines in the

harem of his successor, but his evidence is not in itself very con-
x
vincing. Majumdar states with regard to Campa :
"
In connection with the hereditary succession it is necessary
to note the importance of the females. Kings are succeeded not only
by their sister's son, but also by their sister's husband and even wife's
sister's son. This has been attributed to the system of matriarchy
which used to prevail in those parts of the country."
2
Again, in the case of ancient Cambodia, Groslier quotes from
Barth as follows :
"
The relationship is not direct from father to son, but from uncle
to nephew. The mention of the mother in preference to the father
(in numerous texts) would explain how alone they could remove from
the nephew the suspicion of a less honourable origin from a wife of
inferior rank or a concubine. It seems therefore that the family was
entirely constituted by the feminine line where the successor is not
the son but the son of the sister and so on."
Groslier adds that in a chronicle of the religious foundations

of a sacerdotal family from A.D. 802-1052, the right to priesthood went
from the son of the sister to the son of the daughter of the sister.
But he is not disposed to accept this as certain proof of the existence
of matriarchy in Cambodia, and remarks that there is no sign of it in
modern times : Sisowath was the brother of Norodom, who was the
eldest son of Ang Duong (and Monivongs is the eldest son of Sisowath).
Indeed, it appears to me that we could hardly expect to find recognized
matriarchy in modern Cambodia if we do not find it so in Siam, for
we. know that Cambodia, so frequently the vassal of Siam in later
times, has come to adopt many of her institutions.
My it is possible to come to one on the small
conclusion, so far as
amount of evidence at our disposal, is that matriarchy was probably
recognized in ancient Cambodia, but it is doubtful if it could have

been derived from India which, in the main, is intensely patriarchal.
That it may have flourished in Thai States under the suzerainty of the
Khmers is possible but after the Thai attained independence it has
;
existed only subconsciously and involuntarily, the status of women
during historical times making its recognition by the Siamese

impossible. But
this lack of recognition has no bearing on the
sociological aspect of the matter. Though unrecognized, matriarchy

has undoubtedly continued to exert an important influence on the
characteristics of the rulers of Siam up to modern times.
1 2
Op. cit. Gr., p. 336.
2. Preliminary Considerations.
I shall take as a basis for study the Coronation of King Prajadhipok,
which took place in February, 1926. It differed little from those of the
three preceding monarchs, and from those of the first three kings of
the dynasty mainly by reason of the greater elaboration of the later
Buddhist rites which had in course of time been added to and inter-
twined with what must have been at one time a purely Hindu ceremony.
The last Coronation was in accordance with old custom in that it was
held as soon as possible after the death of King Vajiravudh, and
within the period of mourning, which was suspended during the
ceremonies. This custom was the result of the Siamese theory that the
heir to the late king rules only as a regent and not as a king, until he
is duly anointed and crowned in other words, until the prescribed
;
rites have been carried out, he is not as yet qualified to perform the
divine and priestly functions of a king. King Rama VI, who wished
that his Coronation should be carried out on a very grand scale before
a large assemblage of foreign visitors, was obliged to undergo the more
important rites immediately after his accession, the full ceremonies
being performed at a later date.
King Rama I, the founder of the Cakri Dynasty, on victoriously
mounting the throne, underwent a summary ceremony of anointment
(prdptdbhiseka), but two years later, having collected all the available
information concerning the coronation ceremonies of the Ayudhyii
period, he was anointed and crowned with full rites, which afterwards
became the model for al 1 future Coronations. 1 As we shall subsequently
see, some of the features of the modern Coronation were known and
practised at Sukhodaya, while many of the rites and ideas can be

traced back to a very early period in India. The Siamese preserve the
ancient term Rdjdbhiseka for Coronation, meaning literally royal
anointment (abhiseka), thereby indicating a fact, in support of which
we have plenty of other evidence, namely, that the earlier, and originally
the essential, part of the ceremony was the anointment, and not the
actual crowning, which has now come to symbolize the supreme
moment. In ancient India Rdjdbhiseka referred to the consecration
of ordinary kings, but if the Siamese ever had rites restricted to such
a purpose they have now lost them, for the Siamese Rdjdbhiseka is
rather a Rdjasuya, or ceremony for the consecration of an emperor,
and it is extremely interesting to find that some of its features can be
traced back to the Vedic Rdjasuya described in the fiatapatha Brdh-
mana. But one cannot definitely identify it as a Rdjasuya, for it also
* *
History of the Second Reign, p. 19.
CORONATION 71
contains ideas belonging to other early ceremonies of consecration

(such, as the Vdjapeya, a Vedic abhiseka
not confined to kings), and the
Epic and Pauranic times are also reflected in the
later modifications of
Siamese ceremony.
The Siamese Rdjdbhiseka is followed by, and to some extent
interwoven with, two closely related ceremonies, the Installation of
the Queen, and the Assumption of the Koyal Residence. For con-
venience these two ceremonies will be studied separately and after
the Coronation proper. The former, like the Coronation, is now an
almost inextricable mixture of Hindu and Buddhist rites while the ;
latter appears to be, in its present state, a purely Buddhist ceremony.
3. Scene of the Ceremonies.
It will be convenient briefly to mention here the group of older
buildings, situated within the Grand Palace (brah parama mahd raja
van) enclosure, where the Coronation ceremonies are held. This
group, known as the Maha Mandira (Chief Residence) is made up of

three sections, as follows (1) The Cakrabartibiman, or residence
:
proper, containing the state bedchamber, on the south ; (2) the Baisala
Daksina Hall, an inner hail of audience, in the centre and (3) the
;
Amarindra Hall, the outer or public hall of audience, on the north.

All these buildings date from the reign of Rama I, and were actually
inhabited by the first three kings of the dynasty. Their architecture
is of the traditional Siamese style, no doubt modelled on that of the
palaces of earlier capitals. We know little of such ancient palace

buildings because they were always built of wood and so have perished,
1
but-Aymonier believes that the stone temples of Phimeanakas and
Baphuon situated near the palace at Ankor Thorn were symbolic of
Kailasa and Meru mountains, and were used in connection with
Coronations.
There are three other buildings, also within the Grand Palace, which
play a less important part in the Coronation. These are (1) the Chapel
" "
Royal of the Emerald Buddha, commonly known as Vat Brah
Kev, but with the official title of Vat Brah $rl Ratana Sasataram
(" the temple containing the beautiful jewel of the monastery of the
divine teacher "). It is in itself really a group of buildings including
the temple proper, the pantheon, library, a tall gilded pagoda, and
numerous small shrines of great beauty and interest ; (2) the Tusita
Maha Prasada, which was the scene of the lying-in-state of the late
king ; (3) the Cakri Palace, a modern building in European style, but
1
A. iii, p. 138.
with a purely Siamese roof. The Chapel Royal and the Tusita Maha
Prasada are gems of Siamese architecture built in the reign of Rama I.
4. Preliminary Rites.
For three days before the actual Day of Coronation the Court
Brahmans performed homa, or sacrifices to Fire (PL V). The images of
the Hindu deities were placed upon three altars in a ceremonial pavilion
(ran brah raja bidhi brdhmana) erected for the purpose near the Tusita
Maha Prasada. Before the altars was placed a copper stove inscribed with
the appropriate yantra (PI. Ill), and nine basins of water each containing
a small silver coin known as a/o'aw (no longer current), eight of these
basins being arranged around a central one. The Brahmans began
their rites at 8 p.m. in accordance with the rule that Brahmanical
rites must be performed after dark whenever possible. The Brah
Maha Raja Gru 1 performed the usual
purificatory (see rites
page 249), read the texts offering worship to the eight directions
and to the Brahmanic deities. He steeped the leaves of certain trees
esteemed for their purificatory and medicinal values in the water
hallowed by the above recitations. Some of these he sent to the King,
who brushed himself with them in a manner symbolical of purification ;
others he dipped in honey and oil, and placed them carefully in the
fire, same time reciting texts. This is in accordance with a rite
at the
performed by Hindus in India, accompanied by the following words :
"
I offer to Siva the triple leaves of the Aegle Marmalos endowed
with the three qualifications, with the three eyes and with the three
weapons ; and which destroy the sins of the three existences. By
seeing the Aegle Marmalos or by touching it one is delivered from
all sins. A single leaf of Aegle Marmalos destroys the blackest sin." 2
At the conclusion of the homam the fire was extinguished by some
of the hallowed water being
poured on it from a chank shell. 3 This
Aomaw sacrifice used to be performed also in connection with the
Con Parian and New Year Festivals. In the former case it was
He " "
High Priest of &va but he is also the Head Brahman who presides
1
is the
over Siamese Brahmanic ceremonies. The Vaisnavas have really now no separate
all
existence in Siam, and a Brahman takes the part of " High priest of Visnu
"
only for
the Coronation Ceremonies.
*
Brahmakarma, iv, 5.
*The chank-shell (sdnkha) is much used in Siamese ceremonies, and, as in India,
is especially prized when turned
rightwise. Both large and small ones are used for
lustral water, and as conch-trumpets are most important sacred musical instruments.
Those used for lustral water are often set with gold and jewels. Several Indian
legends as to their origin are known in Siam (see Ge. (1), p. 154).
PQ
Pl-ATK VI,
iS/tl TUAYS wiTrr OFPEBTNGS TO THE DEITIES.

CORONATION 73-
abolished by King Kama IV, but it still survives in the New Year
and Coronation Ceremonies. 1
At the commencement of the above ceremonies offerings were also
placed before the altars of the Hindu deities in the Brahman temples,
before the royal white umbrellas to propitiate the spirits thereof,
and before the images of the guardian spirits of the city (see Chapter
XXVI). These offerings are usually placed on structures known as
pm sri, three being used together, i.e. one of gold, one of silver, and
one of crystal (PI. VI). Each pqi_ sri, of whichever material, consists
of superimposed trays of decreasing dimensions, so that the whole
has an auspicious tapering appearance. Probably the pm sri is an
elaborate development of a primitive pile of leaf platters.
During these three days Buddhist services of benediction (svat

mantra) took place in all three sections of the Chief Kesidence
brali biiddha
with the recitation of paritta suttas, the protective thread (say sincana)
being stretched around the buildings.
2
Each evening a monk of high
standing delivered a sermon in the Baisala Hall, the King himself
attending some parts of every service and, on the following morning,
;
each day, the King presented food to the monks who had officiated,
and also sent some offerings to the Hindu deities. The services were
concluded on the morning of the Coronation Day by the extinguishing
of the Candle of Victory. 3
1
BRB., p. 163, from which source most of the above information concerning the
Siamese homa is derived.
2
Gerini (Ge. (1), pp. 49 sqq.) has published a good deal of information concerning
the various collections of paritta suttas, or Pali protective stanzas, which make up a
great part of the recitations performed by the Buddhist monks in the Siamese State
Ceremonies. It will therefore be unnecessary for me to allude to these texts further.
The say sincana is a thread of unspun cotton which the monks pass round anything
that they wish to preserve from evil influences, such as the scene of their rites, a
building, or even the whole city. The monks hold one end of the string in their
hands while they recite the paritta sutlas, and the power of their merit is supposed to
pass along the say sincana by induction, hallowing all within the enclosure. Lustra!
water is also consecrated by means of the sincana string and the recitation of paritta
texts, the consecrated water then being known as nam brah parita, i.e. paritta water
(Ge. (1), p. 151).
3
The Candle of Victory (dian jaya) is lighted at the beginning and extinguished
at the end of all great Buddhist ceremonies, and is believed to be the equivalent of
the Hindu sacred fire. The dian jayas are prepared under the direction of the head
priest of some royal temple. The wax in each one weighs ten Siamese catties (about
26 Ib.) ; the wick contains 108 threads, a Buddhist sacred number the length is
;
about five feet, and around it are inscribed magical formulae and diagrams. The
dian jaya is usually lighted by means of "
celestial fire ", generated by means of a
burning glass and kept in a special lamp until ready for use, when it is applied to
the dian jaya by the King by means of a special taper. The special formulae recited
on the solemn occasions of lighting and extinguishing the Candle of Victory are
recorded by Gerini (Ge. (1), p. 161).
5. The Ceremonial Bath and First Anointment.

On the morning of the Day of Coronation (25th February), the
.King proceeded to the BaiSala Hall, where Princes, Foreign Repre-
sentatives, and higher Officials of State were assembled. After making
profession of the Buddhist faith, at 9.53 a.m., the time being auspicious,
the High Priest of Siva (Brah Mafia Raja Gru) invited the King to
take a ceremonial bath of purification and anointment, for which
1
purpose the King was clothed in a white robe symbolical of purity.
Prior to taking the bath the King paused at an altar erected in the
courtyard to light candles and make offerings to the Hindu deities.

The ceremonial bath took place in a specially prepared pavilion
(mantapa brah kdyahsandna) between Baiâla Hall and Cakrabarti-
biman. The erection of such a pavilion is evidently in accordance with
ancient Indian tradition. A Mon inscription records the building of 2
a great palace at Pagan in the reign of Kyansittha, probably about

" "
A.D. 1101-02. It included an ablution pavilion probably used
in connection with the king's consecration.
The water used in this ceremony originated from (a) the five
principal rivers of the kingdom, i.e. the Cau Brahya, the Sak, the
Rajapuri, the Bejrapuri, and the Panpahkan rivers, in analogy to the
famous classical five of ancient India Gaiiga, Mahi, Yamuna,
:
Sarabhu, and Airavati (b) water from the four ponds of Subarnapurl
;
sanctified through constant usage in every State Ceremony where

there is a purificatory bath, both in the Ayudhya and Bangkok periods 3 ;
4
and (c) some of the water which had been consecrated by the monks
at various shrines in the seventeen provinces of Siam, such shrines
being chosen either on account of their being the surviving centres

of ancient civilizations, or in default of such qualifications, from tneir
being near the present seats of administration. The preparation of

" "
the consecrated water for the Rajasuya is described at length in
the iSatapatha Brdhmanaf It was obtained from rivers, wells, ponds,
the sea, etc., but included honey, clarified butter, etc., and these
together were considered to be seventeen kinds of water. This number
is remarkable in view of water being collected from the seventeen
provinces of Siam, but may be only coincidence. From a sociological
point of view, however, it certainly seems a point of some importance
1
And with matum (Acgle Marraalos) leaves placed over the right ear, and
phromachan leaves over the left, according to Ge. (1), p. 129 f.n.
2
No. ix in Epigraphia Birmamca, vol. iii, pt. 1.
3
Water is consecrated by the Buddhist monks either (1) by means of the paritta
4
thread (nam brah parita) or (2) by the recitation of the mantras (nam mantra).
8
Satapatha Brdhmana, v, 3, 4, in 8BE. xli, pp. 73 sqq.
PLATE VII.
[Photo: Mat* R<iilway* Uept.
THE KTNO IN Tire ABLUTION PAVILEON RECJSIVINCJ ANOINTMENT

WATER FROM THE PRINCE PATKIAKCTF.
Taptcepaye 7,5.]
CORONATION 75
that every province in the land should be given a share in the

consecration.
The King having taken his seat in the ceremonial (PL VII) pavilion,
some of the water was first handed to him by a Brahman in a small golden
bowl. The King then dipped his hand into this, and rubbed it on
the top of his head. A rope was then pulled, which released a shower
of water from the canopy above, through the petals of a golden lotus.
The water thus represented a celestial shower. In the Vedic Rdjasuya
the king also rubbed the sprinkled water over himself with the horn
of a black antelope, the explanation of this action being, that the
"
collected essence of the waters wherewith he anoints himself means
'
vigour May this vigour of mine spread through my whole self/

:
thus he thinks, and therefore he rubs it all over himself." l
Finally the Siamese king is offered water by ministers and relatives,

in the case of the last Coronation, by the late Prince Barnaransi, the
Prince of Nagara Svarga, and the Prince Patriarch (head of the
Buddhist priesthood).
It appears to me probable that this part of the ceremony is primarily
a preliminary to the anointment proper, which
rite of purification,
formed the main part of the consecration, and will be considered in

the next section. My reasons for supposing that it was originally
only a preliminary rite are as follows :
(1) Ablutions, as an antidote against defilement, are the daily

duty of every high-caste Hindu, and would especially be requisite
2
before embarking on any important .ceremonial. If possible, the
water used should be from one of the sacred rivers of India, but where
this is impossible "he fixes his thoughts on the Ganges, and imagines
that he is really bathing in that river ". 3 Such a bath of purification
as performed by an Indian king is described in the Antagada Dasao^
in which, although the bathing was not on the occasion of a royal
consecration, it is remarkable to note the similarity to the ideal aimed
at in the Siamese ceremony, and in the construction of the bathing
pavilion :
"
There in a delightful bath-chamber, entirely covered with
lattice- work, and pleasant, and floored with divers gems and jewels,
he sat comfortably on a bath-dais figured with patterns in divers
jewels, and was bathed with pure waters, with scented waters, with
flower waters, and with holy waters again and again, according to
the rule of happy and excellent bathing. When the happy and excellent
1
Satapatha Bralimatia, v, 4, 2, 4, in SEE. xli, p. 96.
2 3
D., p. 186. D., p. 242.
*
Oriental Translation Fund, N.S., volume xvii, 1907, p. 20.
bathing had been brought to an end with hundreds of manifold charm

wrappings, his body was rubbed with downy soft cloths dyed with
fragrant saffron. His limbs were smeared with fresh sweet-scented
gosira sandal. A perfect and noble robe of great price was wrapped
round him. A pure chaplet and an adorning unguent were put
upon him."
(2) The amount of water used gives one rather the idea of a bath
than of an anointment. The sprinkling of kings at their consecration
is mentioned in
many Jdtakas and in the Jataka reliefs in the Ananda
;
Temple, Pagan, there are coronation anointment scenes in which

Brahmans are represented as offering consecrated water in conches,
i.e. in small quantities suitable for anointment. 1
In Hastings' Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, 2 where the
(3)
general features of the abhiseka duiing the Pauranic peiiod are

summarized, it is stated that
"
prior to the rite (e.g. on the previous day) the king undergoes a
purification, consisting of a bath, etc. .
while, later, in the actual
. .
ceremony, the king is sprinkled not only by the purohita, but also
by other priests, by the ministers and relatives and by the citizens."
In Siam this offering of water by ministers and relatives takes

place at the time of the purificatory bath, and so seems to have been
transposed from its original place in connection with the anointment
proper.
My conclusion, therefore, on the above evidence, is that the
Pauranic purificatory bath has in Siam been confused with the earlier
idea of anointment, and that the ceremony is now a mixture of the
two. I suggest that this confusion might have been brought about
by reason of the fact that, since oil is not used for anointment .as it
was in ancient India (mixed with other ingredients), the main outward
distinction between the two rites has been lost and their significance
thus confused. But this confusion of the negative rite of lustration
with the positive one of unction is not confined to Siam. The earlier
idea was that fat or oil (imbued with the sacred essence
by means of
magical or religious formulae) was the most suitable medium for
transferring power or sanctity to a person or thing, and that water
was only purificatory. But, later, water also came to be regarded as
a suitable unguent. 3
During the time that the ceremonial bath was in progress, ancient
1
Epigraphia Birmanica, vol. ii, pt. 2, showing anointment scenes of the following
kings No. 47, Janaka ; No. 106, Nimi ; No. 206, the son of Vedeha ; No. 217,
:
Candakumara ; No. 221, Bhuridatta.

a "
Art. Abhiseka ".
8
fcrawley, Studies of Savages and Sex, chap. viii.
CORONATION 77
guns were fired within the precincts of the Grand Palace, a fanfare
of drums and trumpets was sounded, and the Brahmans played their
ceremonial music, 1 while eighty Buddhist monks, assembled in the
Baisala Hall, chanted stanzas of benediction.
6. The Ceremony on the Octagonal Throne and Second Anointment.
After the Ceremonial Bath the King retired, shortly to reappear

in full regal robes which included the gold embroidered pha-nun, or
Siamese national lower garment, not derived from Cambodia, but
probably an adaptation of the Indian dhoti and the gold embroidered ;
robe or long tunic. Such a long tunic is mentioned in inscriptions as

2
having been worn by the kings of ancient Campa. In Vedic India
the presentation of special garments to the king at Edjasuya consecra-
tion took place, and the inner and outer garments were regarded
as the amnion and chorion, thus symbolizing rebirth. 3
The King then made his way to the Baisala Hall, preceded by
Brahmans and Court Pandits, in the following order :
Left File Right File

1. Brahman priest, bearing an 1. Court Pandit (Rajapdn<}ita),
image of (lancsa. bearing an image of the
Buddha, called Lord of
Victory.
2.) Brahmans with pdndahrah 2. \Brahmans with pdndahcah
3.J drums. 3.J drums.
4-
4.) .
5. f Brahmans blowing '

conches. 5. VBrahmans blowing conches.
6.J 6.J
7. High Priest of Visnu, scatter- 7. High Priest of Siva, scatter-
ing roasted grains. ing roasted grains.
8. A Brahman. 8. A Brahman.
The King
1
Besides the conch-trumpet, the Brahmans have a small flageolet, a bell, a gong,
and a drum called pdndahvah, similar instruments being recognizable on the bas-
reliefs of Ankor (Gr., Figs. 81 and 82). The pdndahvah drum is now, I believe, only
used in connection with the Coronation. The Brahmans describe it as a drum used
to awaken Siva in the morning, and one of identical shape is still used by a sect of
Saivites in India, where it is known as the damaru. The pdndahvah is a small hour-
glass shaped drum, operated by a string and ball attached to a peg projecting from
its middle (Go. (1), p. 153). An outburst of music from these instruments marks the
critical moments in most state ceremonies, especially in the Coronation. Such was
also the case in ancient India, as, for example, in the Coronation described in the
"
Antagada Dasao, where there was great massed beating of noble drums, with loud
pealings of trumpets, gongs, tambours, kettledrums, and other drums great and
small."
2
Majumdar, op. cit., chap xiv.
3
Satapatha Brahmana, v. 3, 5, 20-1, in SEE., xli, pp. 85 sq.
be noticed that the Buddha, as well as the chief Hindu

It will
gods, are represented eitherby their images or priests in the above

procession, thereby symbolizing the participation of both Hinduism
and Buddhism in the coming ceremonies. It may also be mentioned
that the Court Pandits, who play an important part throughout the
Coronation, are not Brahmans, but high Siamese noblemen or even
princes who take the part of Wise Men of the Court, just as, until the
government was reorganized on modern lines, the post of purohita
still survived but was held by a Siamese noble, not
by a Brahman.
On entering the Baisala Hall, the King seated himself on the
Octagonal Throne (Brah-dwmn Athadisa), of fig-wood (udumbara),
beneath the seven-tiered White Umbrella of State, there to receive
further anointment (PL VIII). The throne was spread over with hydgd
(corresponding to the Indian darbha grass), covered with a white cloth ;
while opposite each face of the throne was a small table on which was
placed the image of the guardian of the quarter (lokapala), and the
ceremonial water and conch. The King first sat facing the East,
the quarter of the sun, and hence perhaps another indication of the
king's early equivalence to the sun. The Pandit for this point advanced
to the foot of the throne, and, having made due obeisance
(thavay
1
pahgam), addressed the King in Pali to the following effect :
"
May it
please your Majesty May the Sovereign here give me
!
leave to pronounce his victory. May the Sovereign, turning now

towards the East, seated upon his royal throne, extend his protection
and exercise his royal authority over all those realms situated to
(the east) and all beings that therein dwell. May he remain on earth,
further protecting this kingdom, as well as her Buddhist Keligion
and her people. May he remain long in sovereignty, without ills,
accomplishing success, and may his years number a hundred. May
'
the Sovereign Guardian of the East, renowned as Dhataratha, gently

protect the King and his realms. Whoever create evil in this eastern
quarter, may the Sovereign, through his might, triumph over them
all in a righteous manner."
The Pandit then handed a conch of anointment water from the

Eastern Provinces, while reciting the following stanza :
"
Through the power of the Triple Gems (the Buddha, the Law,
and the Brotherhood), and through this water poured down upon
him may the King be awarded success in the way heretofore invoked."
The King answered in Pali verse as follows :
"
Your auspicious speech, going right to the heart of kings, I fain
accept. May it come to pass as you have said. I shall extend my
1
The following speeches, translated into English from the Pali, are from H.H.
Prince Dhani's pamphlet on the Coronation.
PJLATK VIII,
. State Ito
ON TUB OCTAGONAL, T.HRONH.
CORONATION 79
protection and exercise my royal authority over all those realms

to the East and all beings that dwell therein. I shall remain on earth
further protecting this kingdom, and her Buddhist religion and her
people."
The Pandit then said,
"
Good, my Lord."
The King then turned to the south-east, where the same dialogue
was repeated with modifications as to names of the quarters and their
traditional celestial guardians. Thus the King turned round in order,
until, finallyhaving completed the round, he turned again to the
Pandit for the East, who summed up the benediction and the
King
answered in Pali verse similar to the above.
I shall now analyse, under a number of sub-headings, the derivation
and Ceremony on the Octagonal Throne
significance of the :
(1) My first is that the anointment on the

contention Octagonal
Throne corresponds to what was at an early period the essential
abhiseJca of kings, but which has now been overshadowed both by
the Ceremonial Bath and by the Actual Coronation, the latter
being,
I believe, of
comparatively late origin.
(2) As already stated, the anointment was undoubtedly formerly
performed with oil as in India, but the change to water was brought
about by Buddhism in both Siam and Burma but in Cambodia the ;
custom of anointing with oil was only discontinued at the coronation

of Sisowath.
(3) In the Vedic Rdjasuya the king was anointed by the

purohita,
and in Pauranic times by the purohita, other priests, ministers,
and even citizens. Now in Siam the Brahmans have fallen
relatives,
too low and the kingship been elevated too high for
any to perform
that office but the King himself, and thus, though Brahmans and
others hand him water, he actually anoints himself. This is, of course,
really rather illogical, since hefore the King has been anointed, he is
not properly qualified to perform divine or
priestly functions.
(4) A point of interest in connection with the abhiscka in ancient
"
India, is that in the Vedic Rdjasuya the king was anointed whilst
standing with his face turned towards the East "/ while the Siamese
King, although seated, also first anoints himself on the Octagonal
Throne when facing the East.
(5) The King's promise to protect his people and the Buddhist
Religion may be contrasted with those oaths of fidelity extracted

by the Brahmans in ancient India. Though we get no oath in the
Rdjasuya described in the Satapatha Brdhmana, the following
1
Satapatha Brahmaiia, v, 4, 2, 1, in SEE. xli, p. 94.
*
SO SIAMESE STATE CEREMONIES
ceremony of passing round the sacrificial sword clearly indicates the
ascendency of the Brahmans at the time when the passage was written,
but it may be a later interpolation for we know that in early Vedic
times the Ksatriyas and Brahmans lived more or less on equal terms :
"
A Brahmana then hands to him (the king) the sacrificial (wooden)
sword Adhvaryu, or he who is his (the king's) domestic
either the
' '
chaplain with India's thunderbolt thou art therewith serve me : !
the sacrificial sword being a thunderbolt, that Brahmana, by

means of that thunderbolt, makes the king to be weaker than himself." 1
Andin the Indrdbhiseka described in the Aitareya Bfahmana, the

2
king swore life-long fealty to the purohita. In later times, in those
States where the power of the Brahmans was absolutely supreme, the
coronation ceremony consisted almost entirely of oaths, as shown,
3
for example,by the twelfth century Arakancse ceremony. In the
Siamese Coronation we find little surviving trace of an oath, and
should hardly expect to do so, considering the relative position of the
King and the Brahmans. This abolition of the coronation oath is a

late development in the history of kingship :
"
the earliest times the consecration was made conditional
From
on a just and it is only when nations reached the phase of
rule,
excessive centralisation and excessive elevation of the kingship over
all other ranks that kings and their courts tried to forget the conditional
nature of the royal power." 4
(6) The use of Pali, the sacred language of Buddhism, and the
Buddhist flavour of the whole dialogue, even when issuing from the
mouths of supposed Brahman Pandits, is indicative of its late invention.
There appears to me, however, to be an ancient basis to the opening
"
speech of the pandits, Sovereign give me leave to pronounce
May the
his victory, etc." interesting to compare it to the following
It is
passage referring to the coronation of Prince Goyame in the Jain

scripture, Antagada Dasao :
"
Victory, victory to thce, blessed one Victory, victory to !
thee, happy one

Happiness to thee
!
Conquer the unconquered,
!
preserve the conquered, dwell amidst the conquered Mayst . . .
thou preserve thy supreme life free from harm and loss, glad and joyful
for many years, many hundreds and thousands and hundreds of
"
thousands of years !
Again, there is the shout of victory of the Buddha after he had

been handed the symbols of royalty in the Tusita heaven, just before
1 2
Ibid., v, 4, 4, 15. Aitareya Brdhmay,a viii, 15. t
3
Journal of the Burma Research Society, vii (1917), pp. 181 sqq.
4
Hocart, Kingship, p. 95.
CORONATION 81
his last birth,and beginning " I am the chief of the world ", 1 And in
the Burmese coronation ceremony these words were repeated aloud by
the new king. 2 The Siamese and Cambodian ceremonies of Coronation
are replete with references to victory, e.g. Candle of Victory, Gong of
Victory, and Crown of Victory. But what kind of victory is referred

to ? It was certainly not a physical victory, for the King of Siam
quietly succeeded his brother, and the King of Cambodia was appointed
by the French government. The early Indian writings mention the
same kind of victory, for example, in the Vdjapeya the sacrificer makes
an offering of ghee, thinking that he does thus
"
smite the fiends, the Kakshas, in the quarters, by that thunderbolt,
'
the ghee and thus he gains the victory thinking, May I be consecrated,
;
when safety and security have been gained " 3 !

'
In the Vedic Eajasuya there was actually a symbolic foray or

4
sham fight in which the king obtained the victory, and the idea of
5 6
victory is present in the Punardbhiscka. Hocart has pointed out
that this magical victory in a magical contest, where the victory was
gained over the demons by the power of sacrifice, was common in
Indian literature, and he has also shown that this idea of victory is
extremely widespread in coronation ceremonies.
(7) It is interesting to note that the Octagonal Throne is made of
figwood (udumbara =ficus glonierata), and that the throne used in the
abhiseka described in the Aitareya Brdhmina 7 was also of figwood,
8
(though in the Satapatha Brahmina it is said to have been of khadira =
acacia catechu). The ficus glomerata has been esteemed as sacred in
India since time immemorial, partly because its fruit seemed to appear
without a previous flowering stage and partly because this fruit was
in early times a staple food in India. Later the Hindus and Buddhists
encompassed with religious myths.
it
(8) The eightfold ceremony on the Octagonal Throne is evidently

the modern representative of a rite which took place in the ancient
Vedic Eajasuya. In the account given in the Satapcttha Brdhmxna 9
two such rites are described at different stages in the Rdjasuya, but,
bearing in mind the repetition which is characteristic of Brahmanic
literature, it seems certain that they are two versions of one and the
same rite. The first is :
1
Rhys Davids, Buddhist Birth Stories, p. 155.
2
Harvey, History of Burma, p. 325.
8
Satapatha Brahvnana, v, 2, 4, 7, in 8BE. xli, p. 49.
Ibid., v, 4, 3, in SBE. xli, pp. 98 sqq., and note 1, p. 100.
5 6
Aitareya Brahmana, viii, 10. Hocart, Kingship, chap. iii.
7 8
Aitareya Brahmana, viii, 5. v, 4, 4, 1, in SBE. xli, p. 105.,
v, 4, 1, 3-8, and v, 4, 4, 6, in SBE. xli.
"
He
then makes him ascend the regions, with Ascend thou '
the East May the Gayatri (metre) protect thee, the Rathanatara-
!
saman, the threefold stoma, the spring season, the Priesthood, that
' "
precious treasure !
A similar verse is repeated for each of the other four regions, South,
West, North, and the Upper Region, with modification as to season,
etc., and concluding with the explanation of the commentator:
"
And as to why he makes him
ascend the quarters that is a form
of the seasons the seasons, the year, that he thereby makes him
: it is
ascend and having ascended the seasons, the year, he is high, high
;
above everything here, and everything here is below him."
The second version of the rite is as follows :
"
He (the purohita) then throws the five dice into his (the king's)
'
hand with Dominant thou art may these five regions of thine
:
prosper !
'
Now
that one, the Kali, is indeed dominant over the (other)
dice, for that one dominates over all the dice therefore he says, ;
'
Dominant thou art may these five regions of thine prosper

: !
'
For there are indeed five regions, and all the regions he thereby causes
"
to prosper for him !
In later times, perhaps as a result of greater geographical knowledge,

we get the eight regions substituted for the five, and another late
introduction is evidently the Invocation of the Guardians of the
Quarters, for they are not those of classical Hindu mythology, but are
in accordance with the Siamese Buddhist modification, viz. : Dhata-
ratha (E.), Virulhaka (S.), Virupakkha (W.), and Kuvera (N.), the
subsidiary regions being entrusted to the followers of the above four,

i.e. Bhiita or genii (S.E.), Deva or celestials
(S.W.), Naga or serpents
(N.W.), and Yakkha or giants (N.E.). From a sociological point of
view, this anointment facing the eight directions must always have
been of great value in emphasizing the Siamese king's protection
of all parts of the realm, especially in the days of Old Siam, when the
royal power grew weaker in proportion to the distance at which an
outlying province was situated from the capital.
7. The Ceremony of Actual Coronation.
The Ceremony on the Octagonal Throne having been completed,

the King advanced towards the western part of the Baisala Hall,
preceded by the Brahmans and Pandits in the order already described,
and followed by chamberlains and pages bearing the Regalia in the
following order :
COEONATION 83
The history and significance of the various articles of the Regalia

will be fully considered in the next chapter.
The ceremony of Actual Coronation is performed on a throne of
gilded figwood called the Bhadmpitha Throne (PI. IX), which seems to
correspond to a throne of the same name used in coronation ceremonies
of Pauianic times.
1
It is covered
with hya gd ( =
darbha grass), overlaid
with a white cloth upon which again is laid a cloth of gold embroidered
with a vermilion figure of a royal lion (rajasihd). The latter is a very
ancient feature, for both the Aitamja and Satapaiha Brdhmana mention
that the throne was draped with a tiger skin and this persisted with
the golden Bkadrapitha thrones of the Pauranic period.
The King seated himself on the Bhadrapifha Throne beneath an
umbrella of seven tiers, which, after the King was crowned, was
replaced by one of nine tiers, emblematic of full sovereignty. The

High Priest of &va then came before him and, after rendering homage,
pronounced the Tamil mantra, the Siamese name of which means
"
Opening the portals of Kailasa ". He then paid homage in the
following Pali speech, at the same time handing to the King the
Golden Tablet of Style and Title :
"
May it please Your Majesty to grant me leave to address Your
Majesty ! Since Your Majesty has received full anointment and
1
ERE. art. "Abhiseka ".
become His Majesty the King of Siam, we therefore beg in unanimity

to present to Your Majesty Your full style and title as engraved upon
this tablet of gold as also to hand to Your Majesty these regalia
befittingYour high dignity. May Your Majesty be known by that
style and accept these regalia. Having done so, may Your Majesty
take upon Yourself the business of government, and, for the good and
"
happiness of the populace, reign on in righteousness !
The King replied, also in Pali, Be it so, Brahman " and the
"
;
dialogue was then repeated in Siamese. This use of the three languages
is interesting The corrupt mantras, by reason of their being unintelli-
:
gible, together with their venerable antiquity, are of sociological value

in surrounding the ceremony with an air of mystery. On the other
hand the Pali dialogue seems to be modern it was made up after the
;
knowledge of Sanskrit was forgotten, and Pali was used, perhaps

not so much out of reverence for Buddhism, but because it was the
only alternative sacred language. But it is obvious that no purpose
could be served by keeping the officials and people in ignorance of the
meaning of this dialogue hence the repetition in Siamese, which

;
performs the valuable sociological function of impressing on their

minds the dignity of the new king.
The High Priest of Siva then took the Great Crown of Victory
from its bearer and handed it to the King, who put it on his head.
Although he received the Crown from the hands of a representative
of the god Siva, it is quite natural that a divine or priestly king would
not tolerate the idea of actually being crowned by mortal hands
and hence the King crowned himself. In Europe the contrary view
prevailed, except in Russia, where
"
the Tsar was anointed by the metropolitan, but placed the crown
on
his head himself. He received the sacrament among the clergy,
the priestly theory of his office being recognized." l
This is a remarkable parallel to the procedure in Siam.

The King's placing the Crown on his head, now considered the
supreme moment of the Coronation, was signalized by the usual

Brahmanic music and fanfare within the palace, the firing of salutes
without, and the ringing of monastery bells throughout the country.
At the same time, Buddhist monks, waiting in the other parts of the
Chief Residence, recited a blessing.
The High Priest of Siva then handed one by one the other regalia
to the King, who touched them to signify his acceptance, after which
they were placed by attendants on tables ranged on either side of the
1 "
Encyclopaedia Britannica, art. Coronation ". The Kings of Prussia also
crowned themselves.
PLATE IX,
Dejtf,
THE KING SEATED ON THIS BHADMAHTJ/A .THRONE AFTER

HAVING RECEIVED THE BlCIAMA,
CORONATION 85
throne. The High Priest of Visnu handed the nine-tiered Great White
Umbrella to the King, and substituted it for the one of seven tiers
above the throne. At the same time he made a speech in Pali, similar
to that delivered by the High Priest of Siva, to which the King replied
as before, with again Siamese repetitions. A Brahman then chanted
a mantra in praise of Siva, following which another Brahman chanted
a mantra in praise of Visnu, and these recitations were accompanied
by the usual ceremonial music of the Brahmans. At the conclusion 01
this, all the Brahmans rendered homage before the King, and the
High Priest of Siva, kneeling in front, thus pronounced a final
benediction :
"
May His Majesty, the Supreme Lord, who now reigns over
the kingdom here, triumph over all and everywhere alway."
It has already been remarked that the ceremony of actual crowning
together with the presentation of the other regalia, has in Siam come
to usurp the place of chief importance held in early times by the
abhiseJca. Now it is known from an old manuscript, that survived from
the Ayudhyaperiod, that at the Coronation of King Paramakosa
(A.D. 1733),Buddhist monks recited the scriptures for three days,
following which in the morning the king took a ceremonial bath,
mounted the Octagonal Throne, and the Brahmans pronunced his
victory and recited mantras. There was no ceremony on the Bhadra-
1
pitha Throne nor any presentation of the regalia. I do not, however,
think that we can accept this as evidence that there was no ceremony
of Actual Coronation on the Bhadrapitha Throne during the Ayudhya
period, but only that it was then considered less important than the
abhiseka and was likely to be omitted in troublous times. The idea

is certainly old, though far younger than that of the abhiseJca, and
takes us back at least to Pauranic times. Indeed, so far as Siam is
concerned, an inscription of the reign of King Dharmaraja I of Sukho-
2
daya records the abhiseka of that king, with the presentation of regalia,
and a new name. The presentation of the regalia to the king, though
not the actual crowning, can even be traced back to Vedic times.
Then the purohita presented the newly consecrated king with a bow
and three arrows, accompanying the act with the following words
addressed to the bow :
"
Thou art Indra's Vritra killer . . .
May he (the king) slay Vritra
by thee,"
1
8
Coedfes, Inscriptions de Sukhodaya, Ins. iv, p. 97.
whereby, the commentator explains, he means to say,

" l
May he slay by thee his spiteful enemy."
The fact that the only regalia presented to the

king at the time
when this Brahmana was written, werewarlike weapons, and the nature
of the words that accompany the presentation, indicate that we
are not then far from the time when the
king was the actual war-
chief. Later other regalia were evolved, the donning of the crown
coming in course of the ages to signify the supreme moment in the
king's consecration.
To return to the Siamese ceremony, the King, having received
the final benediction of the Brahmans, pronounced his first command
as a fully anointed and crowned monarch, in the following words :
"
Brahmans, now that I have assumed the full responsibility of
government, I shall reign in righteousness for the good weal of the
populace. I extend my royal authority over you and your goods and
your chattels, and as your sovereign do hereby provide for your
righteous protection, defence and keeping. Trust me and live
at ease."
The High Priest of Siva was the first man formally to receive the
"
King's command, thus I do receive the first command of Your
:
Majesty." But though this royal speech is designated as a command,

it appears to me to have
very much the appearance of a disguised
oath of office, a survival from the days when kings had to swear
fealty to the Brahmans.
The symbolism all through the ceremony of actual Coronation
is, as Prince Dhani has pointed out, clearly along the lines of an
assumption that the chief deities, especially Siva, are invited (Jown to
the earth to become merged in the person of the crowned
King. Hence
"
the hymn Opening the Portals of Kailasa ", by way of invitation ;
the mantras in praise of the two high gods the presence among the
;
regalia of such articles as the Brahman girdle Visnu's discus, and

;
Siva's trident ; the epithet, within the full of the king, of the
style
"
Incarnation of Celestial Gods " (Dibyadebdvatara) ; and
finally the
use of the mystic contraction, referring to the Hindu
Trinity, in the
phrase "Omkdra" to denote the command of the crowned King,
whereas before Coronation his command never ranks as an Omkdra.
We therefore seem to have a- mild form of identification of the
King
with the deity, a process which reached its acme in the cult of the
Deva-raja in Cambodia, but which has been weakened by Hlnayana
Buddhism in Siam. We can trace the idea back to Vedic times where,
1
Satapatha Brahmay,a, v, 3, 5, 28, in SEE. xli, p. 88.
CORONATION 87
in the Rajasuya, we find the pronouncing of the avid formulae, after

the presentation of regalia, which announce the presence of the deities
to witness and approve the consecration. Thus :
" ' '

Present are Heaven and Earth the all propitious ; he (the
purohita) thus announces him (the king) to those two, the heaven
and the earth, and they approve of his consecration and approved ;
by them he is consecrated."
*
And, later, in the Rdjasuya, the purohita addresses the king,

thus :
" '
Thou art Brahman ! Thou art Varuna of true power He !
'
thereby lays vigour into him, and causes Varuna to be of true power.
.
'
. Thou art Brahman
. ! Thou art Indra, mighty through the
people
'
thereby lays
! He vigour into him and causes Indra to be
2
mighty through the people."
Being now fully crowned, the King scattered gold and silver flowers
and coins among the Brahmans, an action which he repeated later,
on leaving the hall of audience. Prince Dhani regards this as a symbol
of riches and plenty, but I think that the gold flowers are rather more
reminiscent of those angelic showers of flowers which were rained from
heaven on great occasions, as, for example, frequently mentioned in
the Siamese Life of the Buddha. The earliest classical reference in
Indian literature to a king making such presents at the time of his
consecration seems to be supplied by the Ramayana, in the case of
the Coronation of the hero Rama.
The King next poured out a libation to Nan Dharani, the Goddess
"
of Earth. This, in my opinion, is not in itself an oath or Vow of his
undertaking to take up the reins of government for the good of all ",
as PrinceDhani supposes. It is rather the confirmation or ratification
"
of the former promises given by the King in his first command ".
The outpouring of water is an ancient Brahmanical ceremony of ratifica-

tion. It is frequently mentioned in Buddhist works also, as, for
example, when the King of Magadha presented his garden Veluvana

to the Buddha as a site for a monastery, he ratified the gift by pouring
water from a shell upon the earth. 3
8. The Buddhist Benediction.

The King then removed the Crown (a sign of humility in the presence
of the Buddhist Chapter he was about to meet), and proceeded to the
1
Satapatha Brahmana, v, 3, 5, 36, in SEE. xli, p. 90.
2
Ibid., v, 4, 4, 10-11, in SBE. xli, p. 109.
3
Alabaster, The Wheel of the Law, p. 224.
Cakrabartibiman, with chamberlains and pages bearing the regalia

after him. Here the King received the first royal blessing from the
Prince Patriarch, in full assembly of the clergy who had been officiating
since the 22nd February.
9. The General Audience.

At 1 p.m. on the
Coronation the King received the homage
Day of
of the Royal Family and the official world in the Amarindra Hall.
Guards of Honour lined the grounds within the Grand Palace, the
King's charger was fully caparisoned, and the State Elephant was
ready at the mounting platform outside the Hall of Amarindra, which
reminds one of the fact that the choice of an elephant and a white
horse (two of the royal ratnas) was an essential of coronations in the
Pauranic period in India. 1
The King was in full state robes, wearing the Great Crown of
Victory, and seated upon the Brah-dl-ndh Budtdn Don (Golden
Hibiscus Throne). This throne is more highly ornamented than the
Bhadrapitha, and is set on a tall pyramidal tiered base carved with
2
figures of devatds and garudas
The ceremony, at which I was amongst those present, was in the
nature of a Royal Audience, and will be considered in the chapter
devoted to Audiences. At the moment I shall speak only of the
special features of the Audience, in relation to the Coronation H.R.H. :
Prince Barnaransi read an address of congratulation and formal

avowal of loyalty in the name of the assemblage, to which the King
replied,thanking and enjoining all to carry on the government as here-
tofore, assuring them at the same time of his readiness to see and
hear every official so far as opportunity might allow. But this is a
modification of ancient custom to suit modern constitutional methods
of government. An account of the ceremony as performed in Old
Siam is given by Pallegoix :
%<
One
of the chief nobles advances crawling, and thus addresses
'
the King Your Majesty's servant is directed, on behalf of all the
:
dignified nobles here present, to offer our united homage, bending

our heads at the sacred feet of your glorious Majesty, Somdetch Phra
Chom Klau, our refuge, who are mounted on the diamond-adorned
throne, invested with the sovereign power seated under the many-
;
tiered umbrella, the terror of your enemies, whose august name is

written on the plate of gold. We
ask leave to deposit at the sacred
feet of your Majesty everything we possess, and all the treasures
'
of the kingdom.' The King answers : All the dignified nobles shall
have the privilege of appearing in my presence, as they desire, to
"
1
ERE. art. Abhiseka ".
2
The history of this throne will be discussed in the chapter on Royal Audiences.
CORONATION 89
offer their services according to their several functions. So let

each, without fear, come and present his service.' Then the Phya
Phra KJang (the minister for foreign affairs) prostrates himself, and
presents to the King the royal barges, ships of war, arsenals, soldiers,
and military appurtenances. The Phya Suphavadi offers the elephants,
horses, and the capitals of the provinces of the first, second, third,
and fourth order, with all their inhabitants. The master of the palace
presents the palace and all its contents. The minister of justice presents
the city of Bangkok. The minister of agriculture offers the produce
of the fields and the gardens. The treasurer gives the twelve
of the royal x
departments exchequer."
But the king immediately returned all these riches to the
guardian-ship of those who had presented them, enjoining all the
to carry on the government as heretofore.
officials
This ceremony possessed, as it still does in its modern form, an

important functional value. It impressed upon the officials and the
people at large that they enjoyed their offices and the fruit of the
land directly through the munificence of the new ruler, and not as
legacies from the past reign. The prototype of this audience first
appears in Pauranic times, with the ceremony of presentation of the
officials to the king, and in his confirmation of their appointment. 2
10. Aiidience to the Palace Ladies.

The General Audience having terminated, the King, having
doffed the Great Crown and donned the Kathina Crown, 3 retired to
the Baisala Hall for the Ceremony of the Queen's Investiture, which
will be described in Chapter VIII. The King then received the
congratulations of the ladies, to which he replied thanking all, and
again giving the customary permission of access to his person.
11. Acceptance of the Headship of the Buddhist Religion.

At 4 p.m. on the same day, the King, seated on a state palanquin,
was carried in procession to the Chapel Royal. He wore the Great
Crown while seated on the palanquin, but when on foot before mounting
the palanquin, after leaving it, and while on his way to enter the
temple, he wore a Royal Hat.
3
On entering the Chapel Royal the
King made offerings of gold and silver flowers and lit candles before
"
the Emerald Buddha " and the images of Buddha representing the
earlier kings of the dynasty. Then, in full congregation of the higher
1
P. i, 261-6. Prince Damrong (History of the Second Reign, p. 30) gives a similar
account of the ceremony at the coronation audience of Rama II, but states with
greater accuracy that it was the Krafylahom who offered the royal barges and military
appurtenances.
2
ERE. art. " Abhiseka ". 3
See p. 98.
clergy of the kingdom, he made a formal declaration of his religion and

" "
of his willingness to become Defender of the Faith (brahparamara-
ju^hdmabhakbrdhbiiddhasdsand), in the following formula :
"
My Lords Whereas being a believer and one pleased (with
!
the religion of the Buddha), having taken refuge in the Trinity in due
form, and now having been anointed in sovereignty, I therefore give
myself up to the Buddha, the Law, and the Brotherhood I shall ;
provide for the righteous protection, defence and keeping of the

Buddhist Keligion. If agreeable, my Lords, may the Brotherhood
recognize me as Defender of the Buddhist Faith
'
V
The whole clergy then signified their acceptance and the president
of the Chapter then pronounced the
supreme blessing as follows :
"
May the Great King Paraminda Maha Prajadhipok of Siam
live to a full century of years in happiness and good health.
May
all his duties and deeds be crowned with success,
" may wealth and
victory be his for ever !
We recognize in this purely Buddhist ceremony a late addition of

King Rama IV designed to leave no doubt in the minds of any that
Buddhism is supreme, and that the king is above all a Buddhist
monarch.
12. Homage to Ancestors.

The King, borne on a palanquin and wearing the Great Crown,
next proceeded in full state to the Tusita Maha Prasada. He removed
the Crown and entered the building on foot for the
purpose of paying
homage to the memory of his predecessors. Here the late King
Rama VI was lying in state, and the urns containing the relics of the
other five kings of the dynasty as well as those of the late Queen
Mother had also been brought thither in order that the
King might
pay homage before them. A full consideration of the subject of paying
homage to ancestors will be found in Chapter XIII, and need not,
therefore, be enlarged upon here.
After leaving the Tusita Maha Prasada the King and Queen
retired, accompanied by noble ladies, and this completed the ceremony
for the day. But the private ceremony of the Assumption of
the Residence had yet to be performed. It will be considered in
Chapter VIII.
13. Special Audiences.
On the 26th February, at 4 p.m., the King received in audience

the special envoys (representing
foreign powers) and the diplomatic
corps, who submitted an address of congratulation in the Cakrl
CORONATION 91
Palace, after which the King repaired to the Hall of Amarindra,

where he handed letterspatent to three monks, one each from a chief
section of the Buddhists of Siam, namely the Mahanikaya, the Dharma-
yutika (reformed sect), and the Peguan, promoting them to the rank
of abbot,by way of the first act of grace after his Coronation. He
then received traditional offerings of flowers, incense, and candles
from members of the Royal Family, and officials of State. Finally,
the day's proceedings were terminated by a Lord Abbot delivering a
sermon of benediction.
Next day there was a similar reception of offerings from officials
of State in the Hall of Amarindra, where the Supreme Patriarch
delivered a sermon on the ten virtues of a king.
Though somewhat modernized, one can discern in these ceremonies

traces of very ancient ideas. In promoting the abbots the King is
exercising his newly acquired priestly functions, while the offerings

made to him on this occasion might be compared to offerings to a deity.
Sociologically, however, the promotion of the abbots is now only to
be regarded as a first act of grace, which, correlated with the exercise
of the royal clemency in releasing a number of prisoners in celebration
of the Coronation, is valuable as an indication to the people that the
ceremonial promises are not empty ritual.
CHAPTER VII
CORONATION (continued)
THE REGALIA AND THE STATE PROGRESSES

The first part of this chapter will be devoted to a detailed study
of the Siamese Royal Regalia (Frontispiece and PL X). I shall not
l
attempt to speculate along the lines of Sir James Frazer as to whether
kings were originally evolved from magicians. History only takes us
back to a time when there were gods, and kings, and priests in India,
and gives us the early Siamese conception of the king as identical with
the deity, a stage when religion had already gone far towards supplanting
magic. I shall only state that if, as Sir James Frazer maintains, the
evolution of kings from magicians was only one of several ways by which
the former have been evolved, it seems reasonable to suppose that the
evolution of regalia from magicians' implements is not the only means
by which regalia have been developed. At any rate there seems to be
magical significance attaching to any of the Siamese regalia at the
little
present time, though in the case of the most ancient among them there
probably was in early times while others seem to belong entirely
;
to the religious stage and others again appear to have once been of
;
practical value, and never to have been connected with either religion
or magic. I shall endeavour to distinguish between these various
types when we discuss each article of the regalia in turn.
Whatever the early significance of the regalia, we may be quite
sure that it is little understood or for one moment considered by, the
Siamese people, or even by the officials of the Court, who see in them
merely the bright adjuncts of royalty. Their sociological value is
indeed, like that of the regalia of European kings of modern times,
merely to invest the person of the king with the outward brilliance
of majesty and, thereby, like the ceremonial which accompanies them,
to impress the people with the respect due to the kingship.
From the list of Siamese regalia one can pick out five that are
undoubtedly of great antiquity and can be traced far back in the
history of India. These five insignia (pancardjakukadhabhanda) are
mentioned in the Mahdvamsa, 2 and are to be regarded as the classical
quintette of ancient India. They cannot, however, be traced back to
Vedic times since there then appear to have been no regalia except the
bow, which is to-day represented amongst the royal weapons of Siam.
1 2
OB. i. If. xi, 28.
92
PLATE X.
Jiailwuyv l)ept.
OF THE KEG ALIA.
[To face OiL

CORONATION 93
But there is also a reference to shoes which were put on after the
symbolic foray of the Rajasuya. In Cambodia, and also in Burma,
1
the classical quintette were recognized.

We will now proceed to the detailed consideration of each article
of the regalia :
1. The Great White Umbrella of State?

I place the White Umbrella first because I believe it to be the
most ancient symbol of regal authority, vastly older than the Crown
which has now supplanted it as the most important of the regalia.
The White Umbrella of State consists of several tiers five for the
Van Nd, seven for the King before he is fully crowned, and nine
after he has attained full sovereignty. Similar custom prevailed in
modern Cambodia and Burma, and, in fact, seems to have been
common to all the Indianized States. Parasols are indicated on the
reliefs of the Borobodur in Java, they were used by
royalty in Campa,
and they are represented on the Jdtaka reliefs of the Ananda temple
at Pagan, Burma. In one of those reliefs (No. 6) the Bodhisattva
Temiya is reclining on his couch over which is a single-tiered white

umbrella from which the goddess is seen issuing in order to give
Temiya advice not to become king. 3 But it is in the bas-reliefs of
Ankor Vat that we find the greatest profusion of umbrellas. Groslier 4
delineates a single and a three-tiered umbrella which seem to show
clearly that Cambodia is the proximate source of the Siamese State

Umbrella and parasols are mentioned in the earliest Cambodian
;
5
inscriptions (seventh century A.D.).
The Pauranic literature of India mentions the White Umbrella
as one of the ratnas of a king, 6 and in the Niddna-kathd it is referred
to as one of the regalia of the Buddha in the Tusita Heaven. 7 In the
Makdvamsa, among numerous other references to the White Umbrella,

we have a euphemistic description of the throne in the Lohapasada in
the course of which we note :
"
A
white parasol with a coral foot, resting on mountain crystal
and having a silver staff, shone forth over the throne." 8
"
This, together with a reference in Jdtaka 415 to a throne with the
white umbrella erected over it ", are the earliest specific records known
1
2
The Siamese terms for this and the other articles of the regalia have been given
in the table on p. 83.
8 The idea of a protective genie residing in the State Umbrella is also known in Siam.
4
48d and/.
Gr., chap, vii, Figs. Gr., pp. 41 sq.
"
ERE. Abhiseka ".
art.
' 8
Rhys Davids, Buddhist Birth Stories, p. 155. 3f xxvii. 36.
.
to me of the State Umbrella being placed over the throne exactly in

the same way as it is to-day in Siam. But the following passage,
also from the Makavamsa, 1 is of greater importance for our
inquiry :
"
When
he had caused the state parasol of his uncles to be
brought
and purified in a natural pond that is here (i.e.
Anuradhapura),
Pandukabhaya kept it for himself and with the water of that same pond
he solemnized his own consecration."
Here we note the great importance assigned to the Umbrella in the
consecration, whereas there is no mention whatever of a crown.
"
Considering this in conjunction with Jataka 539, Give the royal
umbrella up to me or give battle," can there be
any doubt that the
Umbrella was the pre-eminent symbol of royal authority in ancient
India ?
From Ceylon
it is an
easy matter to trace the Umbrella back to
the time of Asoka in the third century B.C., the umbrella-crowned
dagabas of Anuradhapura being obviously copied from those erected
in India by the great Buddhist Emperor. And we can trace the
Umbrella back to a vastly more remote period to an according
interesting article by A. H. Longhurst on "The Influence of the
Umbrella in Indian Architecture," 2 from which I make the following
extracts :
In the earliest times the umbrella was a

symbol of authority
and power. It first appears in the wall pictures of the
Egyptians
and later in the bas-reliefs of the Assyrians. The Greeks borrowed
from empires this mark of elevated rank. It is most important
earlier
in Asia where
it is not
only a symbol of rank but also of religion.
This is particularly so in Burma, China, Japan and Siam the
pagoda
being derived from it but the idea originally came to them from
India. The primary idea is derived from a
shady tree (compare the
primitive umbrellas of some modern peasants) and it derived its
sanctity from its resemblance to certain sacred trees, the sal and bo
tree, which are frequently depicted on the bas-reliefs of Sanchi and
Bharhut and are a relic of primitive tree- worship. 3 The idea as an
emblem of sovereignty probably came from Persia owing to the
similarity of those of the Assyrian and Persian reliefs. Indian stupas
of the Asokan type (3rd
century B.C.) were crowned with umbrellas.
The earliest may have been the actual umbrella of Asoka placed
on the monument as a symbol of his royal protection and other
stupas
were doubtless crowned with the umbrellas of other devotees. As
these would quickly perish when exposed to the weather the idea arose
of crowning the stupas with more
permanent materials wood, stone
and bronze. The reduplication of the umbrellas probably arose
1
Jf x, 77.
.
2
Journal of Indian Art and Industry, vol. xvi.
3
This is an unfortunate example to give as it is now
generally accepted that the
bo trees depicted on Sanchi and Bharhut are merely
symbols of the enlightenment
of the Buddha. Nevertheless,
tree-worship undoubtedly existed in early times, in
the sense that the spirits in the trees were
propitiated with offerings.
CORONATION 95
through other chiefs placing their umbrellas on top of those of former

protectors. The model stupas on the Sanchi bas-reliefs show examples
not only of single umbrellas but also of two and even three apparently
on the same handle, as in the modern umbrellas of China and Burma
(and Siam).
It seems probable, therefore, that we can explain the multi-tiered
umbrellas of Siam on the theory of the accumulation of honour. Just
as the greater would be the honour to a relic the larger the number
of royal umbrellas that had been placed over it, so in later times a
king might seek to augment his dignity by multiplying the tiers of
the umbrella above his head. But if the umbrella was originally a tree,
it seems to me that it first symbolized spiritual protection (as the tree
symbolizes physical protection), and only later came to represent
authority. Evidence for this is that to this day whenever the King
of Siam goes out in state a single-tiered umbrella is held over his head,
the sun's rays being perhaps considered especially dangerous to sacred
persons that the Great White Umbrella is supposed to be inhabited

;
by a protective genie and possibly

;
in the statement in the Mahd-
vamsa l that " the thera Indagutta created, to ward off Mara, a
parasol of copper that he made great as the universe ".
The White Umbrella perhaps stands out alone among the institu-
tions of modern Siam, in that we seem to have definitely
enough
it back to ancient
evidence to enable us to trace Egyptian times a fact ;
which certainly makes one wonder to what conclusions we should be led

could we but have as much evidence as to the origin of many another
feature of Siamese culture.It is not for me to attempt to dispute or
confirm the evidence adduced by Longhurst I can only add one ;
interesting point: Neither in the Aitareya nor in the Satapatha

Brd/imana is there any mention of the umbrella in connection with
the abhiseka therein described, and therefore it seems certain that this
article of the regalia was not known in India in Vedic times. It
might be about the time of Asoka that was introduced from Persia.
it
However that may Umbrella can be traced

be, the very fact that the
so far back corroborates my contention, based on evidence
already
adduced from the Mahdvamsa and the Jdtaka, that it is the earliest
and originally the most important of the classical quintette. But,
just as in India it was preceded by the bow, so in other parts of the
world the earliest regalia were probably warlike weapons.
2. The Great Crown of Victory.

The essential part of the Siamese crown (mahkut) may be described
as a cone of several stages terminating in a tapering
spire. The whole
1
M . xxxi, 85.
is surmounted by a small tiered

crown is highly ornamented and
umbrella. The crowns worn by Siamese actresses impersonating kings
are similar to the royal crowns, while those worn by Ravana, Sugrlva,
and other important personages in the Siamese drama l differ only in
matters of detail and the modern royal crown of Cambodia has the
;
same form as the Siamese.

The feature that strikes one most forcibly about the Siamese crown
is its marked difference in shape from the world-wide conception of
a crown the point above the head being its most important part
rather than, as is usually the case, the diadem around the brow. My
deduction from this is that the crown was originally conceived by the
early Thai and the Khmers as a helmet of definitely practical protective
value and a king's helmet would at first only differ from that of an
;
ordinary warrior by reason of its more elaborate ornamentation. The

shape of this helmet-crown would largely depend on the method of
dressing the hair. Now we know that the Thai, while yet under
Khmer domination, arranged their plaited hair in three or four stages
piled up on the head and ornamented by five rows
of chaplets, as
shown by a bas-relief at Ankor Vat where a Thai leader and several

"
of his warriors are shown, identified by the inscription : These are
2
the Syam Kut." For such a mode of hair-dressing a tall spired helmet
or crown would be necessary, and would be adopted by the Thai when
they obtained their freedom. On the other hand, the reliefs of Ankor
Vat and Ankor Thom show that the Khmer aristocracy, as well
3
as the Brahmans, wore the chignon, the elongate crown being
unnecessary. Groslier says of the Khmer crown :
"
During the six centuries of the classic period the royal crown
is conical, squat, of from three to seven stages, set on a stiff head-
dress, decorated and encircled by a band, and not once does the point,
which surmounts the modern crown, appear, added to the three-staged
cone on the bas-reliefs. It is necessary, therefore, to look for this
modification after the 12th century, which is impossible in Cambodia
since stone construction ceases at that period. On the oldest modern
wood carvings where one finds mukuta, the ancient cone is already
transformed. It is therefore between the 13th and 16th-17th centuries
that the change occurred. Now we believe the origin to be recent.
It has come from Siam because the mokoth, such as it is to-day, is
modelled in the votive offerings in baked earth found in the ruined
monuments of Sukhodaya and Svargaloka (end of 14th century). This
*
mokoth is both the Siamese and the modern Cambodian crown to-day."
It appears to me, therefore, that the Thai, on attaining independ-

ence, elongated the Khmer crown and increased the distance between
1
An adaptation of the Indian epic Ramayana
3 4
A. iii, p. 263. Gr., p. 58. Gr., pp. 62, 63.
CORONATION 97
each stage. This was a purely practical modification, rendered necessary

by their mode of dressing the hair, and it does not explain the long
tapering spire which completes the crown. Groslier seems reluctant
to give the Siamese the credit for the invention of this feature, but he
does not make any useful suggestion as to what might be its origin.
My opinion is that we must turn to Ceylon for the elucidation of the
problem.
Wehave seen that the votive tablets of the Sukhodaya period
prove that the change had come about by the thirteenth century, and
as this was the period during which the Siamese kings were actively
engaged in imitating the splendour of Parakrama Bahu, we might

expect to find Sinhalese influence in the Siamese crown. Indeed,
Prince Damrong recently remarked to me that there is a relief in a
certain temple at Sukhodaya which definitely proves this to be the
case. I have not seen this relief, nor do I know the exact nature
of the evidence. hypothesis that the tapering spire has come
If my
from Ceylon be correct, we should naturally suspect Buddhist influence,
and I believe the modern Siamese crown to be a comparatively late
attempt to combine the purely practical helmet-crown with the
Buddhist sirotama, or flame-shaped glory often represented in Buddhist
1
images and paintings, and mentioned in the Makdvamsa. In support
of this theory there is the following very interesting passage in the
Siamese Life of Buddha :
"On head there is a sirorot, like a glorious angelic crown,

his
in imitation of which all the kings of the world have made crowns
2
a sign of royal dignity/'
In concluding this historical analysis we may note that the Indo-

Javanese art of the Srivijaya period, which spread over Cambodia
from about the seventh to the ninth centuries A.D., is characterized by
images in which the hair is dressed high and the brows are encircled
by a diadem. This is also found in some images of the earlier part of
the Ankor period, and it evidently spread from Java (where we see
such forms on the reliefs of the Borobodur) and was originally derived
from India, where it first appears in the Epics, being unknown in Vedic
times. We thus have the world- wide conception of the crown as a
diadem encircling the head in early times in Cambodia, where it was
later superseded by the Khmer helmet-crown. From this the Siamese
crown was derived in the thirteenth century with the addition of the
Buddhist glory.
It will be convenient to mention here two other Siamese royal
1
M . v. 92 : The Buddha " adorned with the crown of flames ".
2
Alabaster, Wheel of the Law, p. 115.
crowns. These are (1) the Kathina Crown (Brah jatd mahd kathina)
:
used in former days on occasions of the presentation of robes at the

royal monasteries, and dating from the reign of Rama I and (2) the ;
Personal (or Lesser) Kathina Crown (Brah jatd mahd hithina noy) made
severally for each individual sovereign and worn during his State
Progresses through the city and on the river, as well as on certain later
occasions during the reign, such as special Kathim presentations.
There are also three Royal Hats (brab mala) which are for use in
1
going to and from the scene of ceremony. Bruguiere, in an account
of the coronation procession of Rama III, mentions the king's wearing
a broad-brimmed hat of black felt, similar to those royal hats worn
to-day, but to his description may be added the fact that a feather
is worn stuck in the side, and the summit is ornamented by a small
replica of a Siamese crown. These hats are known to be of European

origin, having been derived from the Court of Louis XIV in the
seventeenth century.
3. The Sword of Victory.
considered to be one of the foremost of the Siamese regalia.

This is
It was brought from Cambodia in 1783, and is supposed to be an emblem

of sovereignty of the ancient Khmer empire, perhaps dating from the
tenth century A.D. It is thus similar to the famous Brah Kharga, so
jealously guarded by the modern Bakus of Phnompenh, and which is
reputed to have been handed down from Jayavarman II (A.D. 802-69).
The stele of Vat Mahadhatu, 2 dating from the reign of Dharmaraja I,
records that a similar sword named Jayas*rJ was given to the founder
of the kingdom of Sukhodaya by a king of Arikor Thorn and two ;
later Sukhodaya inscriptions 3 mention this sword among the regalia.
Possibly the idea of the sword as a royal emblem was preceded by

the similar use of a more primitive indigenous weapon in Cambodia.
This seems to be the opinion of Aymonier 4 who, in the course of his
description of a king represented on a relief at Ankor Vat, says :
"
The king, seated on an elephant, is armed with a phgak resting
on the shoulder, which shows that at this time the Brah Kharga,
now considered as the palladium of the empire, had not yet replaced
in esteem the old cutting weapon of Cambodia."
The Khmers must have derived the idea of the Sacred Sword from
India, for, as we have seen, it is mentioned in the Mahdvamsa as one
of the classical quintette of India. But though it is not known to have
I 2
Loc. cit. Coedds, Inscriptions de Sukhodaya, No. ii, p. 63.
Nos. iv and v. 4
pp. 257 sq.
II
Ibid., A. iii,
CORONATION 99
been regarded as a royal emblem in Vedic times, the idea must be

extremely ancient, for :
"
The girding new monarch with a sword is a practically
of the
universal feature of coronation ceremonies. It is a reminiscence of
the days when the king was not merely the titular but the actual
war-chief of his people." 1
4. The Slippers.
In Old Siam shoes were not worn by the common people, and those
who wore them had to remove them as a sign of respect as soon
as they entered the precincts of the palace.
They were probably
regarded as suitable only for royalty. This was also the case in
Cambodia, where shoes were probably of great rarity, and considered
as sacred, since, though they are mentioned in
early Chinese texts
and in inscriptions, they are not figured on the bas-reliefs. 2 The
same view was probably current in Ancient India. The earliest
reference to shoes in Indian literature is that in the
&atapatha Brdh-
'numa, where mentioned that they were put on after the symbolic
it is
foray of the Rajasuya :
"
He
then puts on shoes of boar's skin. Now the gods once
put
a pot of ghee on the fire. Therefrom a boar was hence the
produced :
boar is fat, for it was produced from ghee. Hence also cows readily
take to a boar it is indeed their own essence
;
(life-sap, blood) they
are readily taking to. Thus he firmly establishes himself in the
essence of the cattle therefore he puts on shoes of boar's skin." 3
:
Though their sanctity is evident from the above, I do not think

that the evidence is sufficient for us to regard the shoes as
having
been considered as regalia in Vedic times. In Epic times, however,
there seems to be no doubt of it for Rama, who had retired to a;
forest sent his shoes to represent him and govern in his

life,
place,
while, in Jdtaka No. 461, we have the same story with the
following
interesting addition :
"
The courtiers placed these straw slippers
upon the royal throne
when they judged a the cause was decided wrongly, the
case. If
slippers beat upon each other, and at that time it was examined again ;
when the decision was right, the slippers lay quiet."

Here we seem to have traced the slippers back to a time when
they
had a magical significance, almost to a time when (some) kings were
magicians and their regalia magicians' implements.
1
ERE. x, pp. 632-9.
2
Gr., p. 53 sq.
3
Satapatha Brahmaâ, v, 4, 3, 19, in SBE. xli, pp. 102 sq.
5. The Fan.
This is the last of the five chief regalia of ancient India. It comes
to Siam from Cambodia as is evident from those figured on the bas-
reliefs of Ankor Vat, and these were obviously made in exactly the
same way as the modern Siamese royal fan, i.e. from a palm leaf
bent at right angles on its stalk. The fan, as an adjunct of royalty,
is associated with the idea of coolness and sublime comfort attributed
to divine kings, especially in hot countries.
6. The Whisk of the Yak's Tail and the Whisk of the White Elephant's
Tail
The former is an extremely ancient emblem, and seems sometimes
to have replaced the fan as one of the primary quintette. 1 As chowries
or fly- whisks (Sanskrit, cdmara) they are mentioned in Pauranic
accounts as one of the royal ratnas requisite to a king, and were
evidently associated with the same idea of divine comfort, as was
the fan. 2 Yak-tail whisks are mentioned in the Mahavamsa 3
and in
Jataka No. 532 as emblems of sovereignty. Nuniz (about A.D. 1535)
mentions that in Vijayanagar yak-tail whisks were the highest marks
of distinction conferred by the king on the nobles. These emblems
became common in all the Indianized States, and are frequently
delineated on the bas-reliefs of Ankor and Borobodur, as well as
being mentioned in Khmer inscriptions. The material from which
these chowries were made seems to have been chosen on account of
their supposed auspicious nature. But from the whisks mentioned
in the Mahdvamsa, Jataka. and Cambodian inscriptions being specific-
ally described as of yak's tail, whereas there is, so far as I am aware,

no classical mention of the White Elephant's Whisk, it seems to me
that the use of the latter is a late, probably Buddhist, modification.
7. The Sceptre and the Stick.
These appear to be two forms of the same emblem. The sceptre

ispresent in the regalia of Siam, Burma, and Cambodia and Knox, ;
who wrote in 1681, may refer to a sceptre of the King of Ceylon in

the following passage :
"
Commonly he holdeth in his hand a small cane, painted of divers
colours,and towards the lower end set around about with such stones
as he hath and pleaseth, with a head of gold."
But as I can find no specific mention of the Sceptre in ancient Indian

literature, I doubt if it were ever regarded by Indian monarchs as
such an important article of the regalia as it was in Europe. It may,
"
1
8
ERE: art. Abhiseka." 3 M. xxxi, 78.
CORONATION 101
however, correspond to the Brahmanic baton or the thunderbolt

(Vajra) of Indra for
" the
sceptre as a symbol of authority is world- wide. In the form of
1
club, baton or wand its origin may date back to the stone age/ 1
8. The Personal Sword.

This sword is borne after the King of Siam on almost every occasion,
even prior to Coronation Day, by the Steward of the Household.
It may correspond to the golden sword which Cheou Ta-kouan, the
Chinese traveller who visited Ankor in A.D. 1296, states was worn
by the king whenever he went out of his palace. It seems to me that
at that late period in the history of the Khmers, the Brah
Kharga had
achieved such sanctity as to have lost its practical use. The Personal
Sword was probably invented to take its place, and now, in Siam, we
see it in turn losing its practical use and passing into the regalia.
9. Tfo Brahman Girdle.
This a traditional Attribute of Siva, and its presentation to

is
the King symbolizes the

merging of the god into the personality of
the King.
10. The other Girdks and the Rings.
These were no doubt formerly amulets,

especially the Girdle of the
Nine Gems, symbolizing the planets but they have now ;
degenerated
into ornaments. Similar ornaments were worn
by the Khmer kings
2
;
and in Jatakas 479 and 487 and also in the Ramayana, signet rings
are mentioned as being used as tokens.
11. -The Receptack, the Betel Nut Set, the Water Urn, and the Libation
Vessel.
These are all articles of personal use which in Indo-China are

regarded as insignia of rank, not only by the king himself, but also
by officials to whom similar articles were presented by the king on
the occasion of their promotion. The regalia of the
Alompra dynasty
of Burma 3 are remarkable on account of the inclusion of a
great
variety of these personal utensils such as pickled-tea bowls, betel-boxes,
tea-pot, water vessels, water-pot stands, and scent box ; and on the
reliefs of Ankor Vat a number of similar utensils are 4
represented.
No doubt the custom of regarding such articles as emblems of rank
was derived from ancient India ;
but perhaps it would be going too
far to interpret the Libation Vessel as one
being the descendant of
1
ERE. x, pp. 632 sq.
*
Gr., chap. vii.
3
Indian Antiquary, 1902. 4
Gr., Fig. 77.
of the golden vessels filled with water, honey, milk, clarified butter,
and udumbara shoots, which were regarded as a necessity in the
Pauranic abhiseka. 1
12. The Golden Tablet of Style and Title.
A
consideration of this important object of the regalia will
necessarily require considerable space, as it will be convenient here not
only to describe the special ceremony at which the tablet is inscribed
(PL XI) but also to discuss the nature of the Style and Title itself.
On the last occasion the preparation for the inscription took
place on 3rd February (i.e. twenty-two days before
actual coronation),
this preparation consisting of the holding of a service of benediction
(svdt brah buddha mantra) by Buddhist priests. Next day the inscrip-
tion (caru'k brah subarna pata) was made on a gold tablet by a royal
scribe in the Chapel Royal in the presence of the Buddhist monks who
had officiated the previous day, and of a deputy of the King. The
ceremony of inscribing the golden plate with the Style and Title was
performed as follows :
The royal scribes were seated at low tables in the Chapel Royal
with the sacred sincana thread stretched around them to ward off
evil influences. The royal astrologer (Brafiyd Horn) beat the Gong
of Victory at 10.34 a.m. as a signal that the auspicious moment for
commencing the inscription had arrived. One scribe engraved the

Subarnapata, while another inscribed the Royal Horoscope (brah jdt
brah janam barsd) on another gold plate. The chapter of monks
recited stanzas of victory; the Brahmans blew the conches and
played the other ceremonial instruments all the time that the work
of inscribing the plates went on. When this was completed, the
Brahmans offered lustral water in conches and the Hord anointed the
gold plates. The Brahmans then rolled up the Subarnapafa in red silk
tied with a silken thread of five colours. Then they placed it in a gold
tube, sealed it up, and placed it in an embroidered bag. Similarly, the

Hord rolled up the Horoscope and placed it in a gold tube in an
embroidered bag. Both were then placed in a golden box embossed
with floral designs, which was placed on a gold plate of two tiers, which
in turn was placed on a gold stand while the Brahmans and officials
performed the man dian

2
rite around it. The golden box was finally
1
ERE. art. "Abhiseka ".
8
This the light-waving rite frequently performed in Siamese ceremonies, the
is
Brahmans and others passing from hand to hand tapers, fixed in lenticular holders,
around the person or thing it is desired to honour, and fanning the smoke towards
that person or thing. It is a form of pradafaina intended to ward off evil influences.
It is well known in India, being first mentioned in the tfatapatha Brahmaâ, i, 2, 2, 13.
See p. 107 f.n. and Ge. (1), p. 159.
CORONATION 103
deposited with the other regalia on the altar in the Chapel Royal until
21st February, when it was carried in state on a palanquin to be placed
on an altar in the Baisala Hall. 1
Though inscribed gold plates are mentioned in Jdtakas 440, 482,

491, and others, I am informed by Mr. Sastri, of the Royal Institute,
Bangkok, that no mention of the term subarnapata occurs in Indian
and it is, therefore, very remarkable that it should have
literature,
been preserved in Siam. But the custom of kings changing their
names on accession is a very venerable one in India. Thus in the
Vedic Rdjasuya :
'*
He (the purohiia) then hails him (the king) as one bearing
"
auspicious names Much worker, better worker, more worker '.

Whoever bears such names speaks auspiciously even with a human
2
voice."
To this the translator appends a note explaining that the meaning of

*'
these titlesis incrcaser of the prosperity of himself and his people ".
The changing of the name symbolizes the rebirth of the newly-
consecrated king, and his identification with the deity.
The same custom seems to have become established in all
the Indianized States. In Ceylon we have the statement in the
Mahdvamsa 3 that :
""
Suvannapindatissa was his name before his reign, but he was

named Suratissa after the beginning of the reign."
Likewise in Campa :
tw
There seems to have been a fairly general practice among kings
of Champa to take a new name Abhisekanama at the time of
called
^he coronation. Thus Prasastadharma, son of Rudravarman, took
the name Sri Sambhuvarman at the time of his coronation." 4
In modern Cambodia the ceremony of inscribing the royal style

and title is carried out as in Siam, and that the ancient Khmer
kings
changed their personal names on accession to one ending in varman is
exemplified by the following seventh century inscription :
"He the son of Sri- Vira varman, and who is not inferior in
is
power though the youngest brother of Sri-Bhavavarman, he, named

8ri-Citrasena who possesses all the marks of the great, has chosen
;
the name of Sri-Mahendra varman at his coronation." 5
1
Most of the above information concerning the ceremony of inscription is derived
" "
from Programme of the Coronation, B.E. 2468 (i.e. Source No. 1). There is a
short account of the inscription of Rama IV's titles in Siam Repository, Oct., 1871 ;
and the Hwtory of the facond Reign (p. 22) gives a brief description of the ceremony
at the coronation of Rama TI. All these accounts are substantially in agreement.
2
tiatopatha Bmhmcwa, v, 4, 4, 14, in SHE. xli, p. 110.
*
M. xxi, 9.
*
Majumdar, op. cit., chap. 14.
5
BEFEO., t. iii, p. 445.
In later days the Cambodian kings possessed a string of titles.

A modern inscription of Ahkor Vat refers to a king who reigned in
A.D. 1747 as Samtec Brah Pada Paramanatha Brah Pada Parama-
"
pubitra, The lord, the sacred feet, Paramanatha, the sacred feet,
"
the supreme purification and almost the same titles are used of a
;
king mentioned in a thirteenth century inscription at Ankor Vat,

and believed to refer to the founder of that temple. 1 Aymonier
believes that these multiple royal titles probably originated in the
thirteenth century, and mark the commencement of the period of
decadence. 2
We have practically the same story in Burma : In the Mon inscrip-
3
tion of Myanpagan, Pagan, on face C, the king is referred to by his
"
usual name as Sri Tribhuwanaditiyadhammaraja ", but on side D
"
this is lengthened to Sri Tribhuwanadityadhammarajarajadhira-
"
japaramiswarabalacakkrawar ", meaning supreme king of kings,
overlord, mighty universal monarch ". And the last king of Burma
was known as Athet-u-san-paing-than-ashin, " Lord of the life, head
and hair of all human beings." 4
In one of the Siamese inscriptions of the Sukhodaya period, 5 it is
stated that the king changed his title on his accession from Brana
Lu'daiyaraja to rlsuryavams"a Mahadharmarajadhiraja, but this is

a comparatively modest title to the long string of Sanskrit epithets
expressive of divine majesty that was accumulated during the Ayudhya
period, and revived and even extended by the sovereigns of Bangkok.
Thus the full style of the first two kings of the present dynasty was
as follows :
"
Brah pada samtec brah paramarajadhirajaramadhipati srisin-
draparamamahacakiabartirajadhipatindra dharanindradhiraja rata-
nakasabhasakravansa angaparamadhipesra tribhuvanetravarnayaka
tilakaratanara j j atiaj a vasarayasamudayataromanta sakalacakravala-
dhipendra suriyendradhipatindra hariharindradhatadhipatl 3risuvi-
pulyagunoknitha rdathiramesvaramahanta paramadharmikrajadhira-
jatejojaiya brahmadebatidebanarpatindra bhumindraparamadhipesra
lokjethavisuddhi ratanamakutaprahdeagata mahabuddhankurapara-
6
mapabitra."
And in the course of the next hundred years the royal style
continued to expand until it reached the dimensions of that of the
present king, which runs as follows :
1
A. p. 258.
ii,
2
A. in, p. 281.
3
Epigraphia JBirmanica, vol. i, pt. 2.
4
ERE. art. " Burma ".
5
Coed&s, Inscriptions de Sukkodaya, No. iv, p. 84.
6
CORONATION 105
"
Brah pada samtec brah
paramindramahaprahjadhipak mahan-
tatejantilakramadhipatl debyaparlyamaharajaravivans'a asamabhina-
bans*ablrahkasatra purusaratanarajanikarotama caturantaparama-
mahacakrabartirajasankasa ubhatosujatasams'uddhageralinicakrlpara-
manatha ciilalankaranarajavarankuTa mahamakutavansavirasura-
jisatha rajadharmadasabidhautakafasatanipuna atulyakrsatabhinl-
rahara purabadhikarasusadhitadharhnayalaksanavicitrasauva bhag-
yasarbanga mahajanotamafigamandasandhimatasamantasamagam
paramarajasambhara dibyadebavatara baisalkiaratiguna agulaya-
saktiteja sarbadeves*apriyanuraksa mangalalagananemahvay sukho-
dayadharmaraja abhinauvasilapasu'ksatejanavudha vijayayuddha-
sasatrakosala vimalanarayabinita sucaritasamacara
bhadrabhjianana-
prahtibhanasundra prahvarasasanopasatamabhaka mulamukha-
matayavaranayakamahasenani sarajanavibayuhayodhaboyamacara
paramajesthasodrasamamata ekarajayasasadhigamaparamarajasam-
pati nabapatalasevatachtitratichatra srtratanoplaksana mahapara-
raarajabhisekabhisikta sarbadasadigavijitatejojaiya saklamahaisvara
yam ah asvamindra mahes varamahindramaharamadhiraj a varotama
paramanathajatiajanyasraya buddhaditrairatnasraijaraksa visisata-
sakatoagranaresvaradhipati mettakrunasltlahardaya
anopamaiya-
bunayakara sakalabaisalamaharastaradhipatindra paramindradhar-
raikamaharajadhirtija parananathapabitra brah pak klau cau yu hua/'
Our study of the royal style and title has revealed two main under-
lying ideas which are of considerable sociological interest. In the
first place we have the substitution of the king's personal name, which
was taboo after accession, by a long string of titles expressive of the
king's majesty and of his identification with the deity. These titles
were not understood by the common people who used such
simple
terms as Cau Jivitra (Lord of Lives), but they
probably always knew
that some such titles did exist, while the fact that
they were appended
to all official proclamations performed the valuable function of
impressing the dignity of the kingship upon the literate and official
classes. That the actual fact of
changing the royal appellation meant
something in the estimation of the people is borne out by the custom
which prevails to this day of even the humblest officials their
changing
names on promotion.
Secondly, it is to be remarked that the evolution of a
long string
of euphemistic titles seems to be late, and characteristic of a decadent
period, when the real power of the king was on the wane, and it was
necessary to support it
by the invention of haughty titles. But it
must not be forgotten that other factors have been brought to bear on
the situation, and that with the rejuvenation of the modern
kingdom,
such titles are little more than a relic of Old Siam, a shortened form
having, in fact, been sanctioned by the late king.
13. The Eight Weapons of Sovereignty (Brah sen asatdvudha) (PL XIT).
It is possible that the Bow represents the oldest article of the
Indian regalia, antedating the classical quintette and receiving mention
in the Satapatha Brahmana, while the Trident and Discus are, of course,
attributes of the gods iva and Visnu, and symbolize the king's
identification with those gods. On the other hand, many of the other
weapons seem to be of purely Siamese historical interest, and supposed

to date fromsome national event, especially in connection with King
NaresVara It was he who killed the Prince of Pegu
(A.D. 1590-1610).
with the Long Handled Sword in a fight on elephant back, and it was
also he who fired the Gun of the Saton across the river of that name
at a Burmese pursuing column, killing the leader with the first shot.
Actually, however, I am informed that all these weapons

are reproduc-
tions made in Bangkok, the originals having been lost at the time of
the fall of Ayudhya. But this is not realized by the masses, and the
*****
replicas no doubt fulfil their sociological function of inspiring the
people with a respect for their historic past and for the glory of kings,
just as well as ever did the originals.
This will be a suitable place in which to consider the Coronation

State Progresses, because, like the Regalia, many of the features of
the processions are of great historical interest. The first State Progress
ofKing Prajadhipok took place on 1st March, 1926, on which occasion
he was borne in procession on a palanquin through the streets of the
capital,and paid his respects at the principal shrines, namely, the
Pavaranivesa and Jetavana monasteries, where the monks were
waiting to receive him. On entering these temples the King paid
homage before the principal images and before the urns containing
the remains of the late Prince Patriarch. He also offered a gorgeous
robe to each of the images. The second State Progress took place by
water on 3rd March, the procession of state barges making its way
to Vat Arun, a monastery on the west bank of the river, where the
King paid homage and made religious offerings as before. On both

occasions the King wore the Personal Kathina Crown, except when
entering and leaving a temple on foot, and when embarking in the
royal barges, at which times he wore a Royal Hat.
These State Progresses are a modification of a very ancient ritual.
Formerly they consisted only of a Progress (known as Liap Mo'an)
PLATE XII.
[l*/mfo , Xtttte Runways jP
THE BOTAT, WKAFOXS.
I To fate
CORONATION 107
around the city, without any visits to the temples. This latter was
an innovation introduced by that pious Buddhist monarch, Rama IV.
Formerly the Progress enabled the people to have a view, albeit a
limited one on account of the lattice fences, of their new monarch in
full regal state. The later modification possessed the additional
sociological value of showing the King to the people as a supporter of
the national religion. But the Liap Mo ah has a far older
significance,
though perhaps this was long since forgotten by the common people.
It was performed rightwise and it was, in fact, the ancient Hindu
rite of pradaksina. According to the
Agni Purdâ and the Manasara.
the coronation was concluded by the king riding
pradaksina-wisv
around his city 1 and Jdtaka 472 mentions the rightwise procession
;
of a king around his city but the rite was not known in Vedic times.
;
In Siam to-day the Progress by Land is a true

pradaksina, the King
keeping his right shoulder to the Grand Palace, but the Progress by
Water is not. It seems that this rightwise circumambulation of the
King around the city represents the path of the sun, and is important
evidence in favour of the solar origin of 2
kings.
"
1
ERE. art. AbhwLa ".
2
This being our first mention of the rite of circumambulation, which we shall
frequently come across in other Siamese ceremonies, it may be convenient to quote
here a few extracts from Hastings' E-n and Ethics "
cyclopedia of Religion Circum-
(art.
ambulation order to explain its significance in ancient India: "The custom
"), in
is observed, \\ ith a
religious or magical signification, among the most diverse peoples,
particularly among the Indo-Europeans. In India, the Satapatha Brahmana enjoins
walking round the offering, holding a burning coal in the hand. The Grhya Sutra*
require the young Brahman at the time of his being initiated, to drive three times
round the site, sprinkling it \\ith water, and repeating the verse of the Rig-Veda,
4
Waters, ye are wholesome.' Among marriage ceremonies the Laws of Manu order
the bride to pass three times round the domestic hearth it is the seventh step in
;
this walk that makes the union irrevocable. C'ircumambulation also figured in the
funeral ceremonies and the sacrifices to the Pitris. The Mafia Pannibbana Sutta tells
that the pyre on which lay the body of Buddha took fire of its own accord when the
500 disciples talked round it three times. Even at the present
day, for the Hindus,
circumambulation round certain sacred spots hat, the effect of
blotting out sins. It
was the same with the Buddhists who, long before our epoch, had constructed round
their stupas, or eminences containing relics, circular galleries for the circumambulation
of pilgrims. ... It is a rite intended to ward off sinister
influences, in the interest
either of those who perform the circumambulation or of the
person or thing placed
at the centre. ... It is usually only regarded as
bringing good fortune when performed
towards the right, which is called by the Brahmans pradaknna. The
opposite process
{Sanskrit, praaarvya) is considered of ill omen. Pradakftina represents the daily
. . .
march of the sun, which in our hemisphere rises in the east,

passes thence to the
south, and sets in the west. This is what Brahman ritual tells us
clearly :
'
While
the Brahmans perform the pradaksina,' says the '
Satapatha Brahmana, they think,

sunwise this sacred work of ours will be accomplished, and therefore
they again
walk thrice round sunvuse.' It be asked whether in the same way the treble
may
repetition of the circuit is not connected with the traditional three
steps of Visnu."
The royal procession of King Prajadhipok's Progress by Land

(PL XIII) was constituted as follows :
MILITARY GUARDS
( Khapvaranadaharpak)
A number of units representing the various arms of the modern army, established
on European lines.
THE ROYAL PARTY

(Khaprarat ajixriyayaxa )
A Nobleman A Nobleman g
Flags Metal Drums Metal Drums Flags $
'g
SilverWar Drums g.
* Drum Major
| g g
< ]J
Gold War Drums 2 8
-8 Herald Trumpets 3
g JTJ 3,
g g Small Bugles &

S Master of Ceremonial Instruments
|
^.3 ^.g* jjjf
+ Brahmans blowing conch shells '* >

.-g H
Inspector of Instruments
r*K
|| 2.
-S <3 <1
2 ||
M j O
*
^ c Pages bearing Royal Weapons g"- ^
* 1^ Grand Umbrellas
?'
3 i
P*
g^ ^
W) **
M of Ceremony g
f
Signal Stick 3 S-l

W xi ^ >
S'| g S,
Signal Instrument
"
^ :
|' p*
W
a -?S 2.
g g g Monkey Standard Garuda Standard f g Q
SS
5
^?
(dhanjaya krahpi dhvj) (dhan jaya garudha bdha) ^ 8
^& *
&
"5* A Supporters of H.M. :
Supporters of H.M. :
JT tft
"o "gJS Seven Lords Lieu- Royal Golden Seven Lords Lieu- |
" g
2 tenant in single file Palanquin tenant in single file T
^g
g
(aides-de-camp) (aides-de-camp) n
-g^
o 1
.2 Sunshade (pan brah stay) 3
1 Fan (bat pok), and g
g Umbrella (brah klat) o
Escort of Chamberlains bearing Royal Escort of
King Cuja- Paraphernalia (kruan sun) King Ouja-

lankarana's Reserve Chair of State lankarana's
Bodyguards The Master of the Horse Bodyguards
Royal Chargers
Military and Naval Units and Bands
It is the Royal Party that focusses our attention, and we need not
give further consideration to the modern military and naval units,
except to say that they are sociologically important in that they
CORONATION 109
perhaps impress the ignorant masses with the might of the Government
just as much as does the brilliance of the royal party.
The constitution of this central body no doubt follows closely the
arrangement in force in the days when Ayudhya was capital and ;
that almost every feature in it was derived from the Khmers is evident
when one compares it with' the coronation
procession of King Sisowath
1
(1906), and with those depicted on the bas-reliefs of Ankor Vat
2
(eleventh century A.D.). In the modern Cambodian royal procession
we find ceremonial instruments, processional umbrellas, state umbrella,
sunshade and fan, noblemen supporting the king, and the royal
palanquin. We notice, however, a few differences the presence in :
the Cambodian procession of an amazon guard from the inner palace,

an institution abolished in Siam with the harem the inclusion of ;
elephants, a mode of royal progression which was never popular in
Bangkok, and is used nowadays only when the King visits the North,
where the elephant is still the traditional royal mount and, finally, ;
the presence of a chariot which is a typically Khmer form

of royal
vehicle. The Cambodian king, indeed, halts three times in his pradak-
sina circuit of the city. Each of these halts is at one of the cardinal
points, and the king, on descending from his vehicle,is presented by
a Brahman with holy water with which he bathes his face and pours
out a libation to the Goddess of Earth. At each of these halts the
king changes his vehicle, thus making use of four in all palanquin,
chariot, horse, and, finally, elephant, the four traditional royal modes
of conveyance. But in Siam, although the royal chargers take
part
in the procession, the King remains on his palanquin throughout.
Another point of interest is that the Cambodian king changes his
head-dress each time he changes his vehicle. The Hindu gods had each
a different vehicle. Can it be that this change of head-dress and
vehicle symbolizes the king's representation of several of the gods of
the Hindu pantheon ?
Thus it appears that Cambodia still preserves certain features
which have been lost in Siam. We know from Cheou Ta-kouan's
account of the royal procession that he witnessed at the end of the
thirteenth century, 3 that the Khmer king rode on an elephant, and
held the precious sword and we find most of the features of the
;
modern Cambodian procession depicted on the bas-reliefs of Ankor Vat.

It will be interesting to consider in a little more detail some of
the component parts of the Siamese Coronation Procession. The
1
L.. Coronation du roi Sisowath.
2
Delaporte, Cortege Royal Chez les Khmers, Revue de Geog., 1878.
3
Pelliot, in BEFEO. ii, April, 1902.
picturesque uniforms of the Ancient Bodyguard (Tdmrvac), with their

old-time tunics, embroidered pha-nuh, and
heavy swords, are
reminiscent of the fighting men of the Ayudhya period but it is ;
important to note that they are evidently intended to guard against

evil influences from the spirit world,
just as much as against more
material foes, for they carry the sacred sincana cord stretched
along
each side of the procession. None the less remarkable are the uniforms
of the umbrella-bearers and of the drummers, who march in two files,
those on the right dressed in green, those on the left in red, and
presumed to represent gandharvas (heavenly minstrels). These,
together with the representatives of Indra and Brahma, symbolize
the fact that the King is to be regarded as a
deity surrounded the by
traditional followers of the gods. In striking contrast to all these
are the semi-European uniforms of the chamberlains and
pages.
The Monkey and Garuda Standards, always carried before the King
in state processions,represent the monkey god Hanuman and the
sacred bird Garuda, the mount of Visnu. In one of the reliefs of
Ankor Vat the king is preceded by an ensign representing Visnu
mounted on Garucja 1 while the indented flags or pennants used in
;
Siamese processions are also shown on the Ankor Vat reliefs, 2 and on
those of the Borobodur.
The Fan is similar to that which forms one of the
regalia, but it
is larger,and is put to practical use, during the progress, for the benefit
of the King. The large and
highly ornamented Sunshade has also its
prototype in the Ankor Vat reliefs.
3
The Umbrella is large and
single-tiered, and is
evidently intended both as a practical protection
from the rays of the sun and as a symbol of authority, which latter
function is also performed by the numerous five- and seven-tiered
umbrellas in the procession.
The last feature that calls for special mention is the Royal Palanquin,
the only vehicle now used by the King in state
processions by land,
and frequently used as an alternative to the elephant and the horse
in the Ayudhya period, as mentioned
by most seventeenth century
European writers. Palanquins are mentioned in the earliest Khmer
4
inscriptions, i.e. those of the seventh century, but in the classical
period of Cambodia they appear to have been used only for the trans-
portation of images, lingas, and the sacred fire. Classical palanquins
of this type are shown in the reliefs of Banteai Chhma, Ankor
Thorn,
and Ankor Vat, 6 from which the modern Cambodian 6
palanquin
and that of Siam seem to have been derived. Similarly,
royal ladies
1
A, iii, pp. 257 sq. *
Gr., Fig. 49, a, b, c. 3
Gr., Fig. 48, m.
* *
Gr.. pp. 41 sq. Gr., Fig. 66. Gr., plate vii, 6, c.
CORONATION 111
both in Siam and Cambodia are carried in a type of curtained

palanquin
ofwhich the prototype is depicted on a relief at Banteai Chhma, 1 and
strangely enough, not represented at Arikor Thorn, Ankor Vat, nor
in any other relief. It
appears, therefore, that although the palanquin
was known during the classical period of Cambodia, not until later
times did come
into use as a royal vehicle.
it Persons of quality
probably preferred to be carried on hammock-litters, suspended from
poles, these being frequently delineated in the bas-reliefs, but having
now completely disappeared from Siam and Cambodia. They were,
however, until recent times the ordinary mode of conveyance of people
of rank in Cochin- China, 2 and may have reached Cambodia from China
by that route.
We now turn to the consideration of the State Progress by Water,
which took place on 3rd March, 1926, in connection with the Coronation
of King Prajadhipok. The King, wearing state robes and a Royal
Hat, was borne on a palanquin from the Grand Palace to the Royal
Landing (Da Rajavamtitha), where, in the Royal Pavilion (Brah-di-
ndn Rajakiatviniwchay), accommodation was provided for the Royal
Family, while tents were erected on the river front to seat members
of the Diplomatic Corps, Officials of State,
and the general public. The
King and Queen watched the procession of state barges filing past,
until the Royal Barge (PI. XIV) came alongside the landing, when the
paddlers, with joined palms, bowed low three times in unison, according
to the traditional method of paying homage. The
King then embarked,
and, donning the Personal KatJmia Crown, seated himself under the
golden canopy (puspaka) beneath the yyrasada spire amidships. He was
attended by several nobles of high rank, as well as by chamberlains
bearing the regalia, the large fan, the sunshade, the large single-
tiered umbrella, and several five-tiered
processional umbrellas. The
order of the procession of state barges was as follows :
LEFT FILE RIGHT FILE

1 .
Tiger barge Tiger barge
2-10. Barges of the line First drum barge Barges of the line.
11. Gold barge of the line Inspection barge Gold barge of the line
12. Monkey barge of the line of the line
Monkey barge
13. Asura barge of the line Asura barge of the line (drums)
(drums)
14. Sugriva barge (drums) Bali barge (drums)
Inspection barge
15. Garuda barge (trumpets and Garuda barge (trumpets and
conches) conches)
1
Gr., Fig. 64, a.
8
Crawfurd, Journal of an Embassy to Siam and Cochinchina, 1828, plate facing
p. 282.
" "
16. Royal Pavilion barge Prahbhi-Uarajaya (fish figure-head) conveying the
King's offerings to religion
17. Barge conveying metal Second drum Barge conveying metal drums
drums barge
18. Escort barge Royal Throne Escort barge
barge
" "
Subarnahansa
(Golden hansa figure-head)
with the King on board
19. Escort barge Royal Pavilion Escort barge
barge
" "
Anekajatibhujanga
conveying the King's state robes
20. Royal Throne Barge
" "
Anantanagaraja
(naga figure-head)
in reserve for return journey
21. Royal reserve barge
The procession of royal barges constitutes, without a doubt, the

most spectacular of the many brilliant sights that are to be seen in
the Kingdom of Siam and as such they have been justly celebrated
;
by European writers since the seventeenth century.

"
Probably the largest dug-outs in the world arc the Siamese
royal state barges. These are of mai yang [Dipterocarpus spp.] wood
and each boat consists of a single tree. They are 150 feet or rather
more in length and about eleven feet beam, and are made in exactly
the same way as the smallest canoe, the tree being hollowed out with
adzes, submerged in water until thoroughly soaked and then opened
out over fire. The symmetry of these royal barges, which are without
superstructure of any kind, but are simply one piece of timber with
prow and stern continuations, is quite perfect. They have a . . .
smooth rounded bottom and beautiful lines running up into a graceful

curve at the tapering stern. The sides are intricately carved and
heavily gilded, and from the bow and stem depend large tassels of
Yak hair, two at each end, with a piece of cloth-of-gold brocade
hanging between them, charms to keep away evil spirits. A little
aft of amidships, a pavilion with cloth-of-gold roof and side-curtains
is supported on gilded pillars, and the boat is maimed
by seventy
paddlers seated in pairs forward and aft of the pavilion. At the stern
are the two steersmen, and near the bow an individual stands on a
small platform, where he controls the stroke and keeps the time by
tapping on the deck with the butt-end of a long silver spear. The crew,
who are dressed in the crimson uniform of the warriors of ancient
Siam, are well drilled and flourish their long paddles in perfect time,
L
raising them high in the air at the end of each stroke."
That the beauty and majesty of the royal barges does not fail to
impress the minds of the Siamese people is indicated by the well-
1
Graham, Siam, ii, pp. 83 and 245.
CORONATION 113
"
known poem Song of the Procession of Boats
called the ", from
which I quote a translation of the first two stanzas :
"
The king embarks upon the water
Using his most magnificent barge
' '
Handsomely ornamented with King Keao ;
The movement of the pliant paddles is beautiful to see.
Crowded together but preserving order,

Each shaped in the semblance of a curious beast,
The vessels move along with their flags flying,
l
Making the water to roar and foam."
I have indicated in the table showing the order of procession the

function of each type of barge, but may add here that the barges of
the line and the escort barges are manned by navy men in modern
white uniforms, while marines, armed with rifles, occupy the central
pavilions. The barges
are mostly distinguished by their figure-heads,
these being chiefly representations of characters from the Siamese
version of the Rdmdyana Hanuman, Sugriva, Bali, and Garuda.
:
Since, in times of old, kings of Siam used to embark on warlike expeditions

in procession similar to the one we are considering, it seems that the
array was intended to represent Rama and his army, and the figure-
heads were far more than mere ornament; they struck terror into
the enemy.
It is, of course, the magnificent royal barges proper, those that
bear the King and his religious offerings, which primarily claim our
attention, and, by comparative methods, I have arrived at what I
think an interesting theory as to their evolution. Barges of the
is
classical period are represented on the reliefs of Banteai Chhma,

Ankor Thorn, and Aiikor Vat. 2 Cheou Ta-Kouan was wrong in
describing them as built of planks they were obviously hollowed out
;
of a single tree in exactly the same way as are the modern royal barges.
Though some of the more primitive barges were of slender form, the
later classical ones 3 were of a much heavier and less graceful line than
either the early barges or those of the present day, consisting almost
entirely of poop, figure-head, and luxurious cabin. The seventeenth

4
century Siamese barges were also of comparatively heavy design.
I attribute the sweeping graceful lines of some of the modern barges
of Siam and Cambodia to influence from Burma during the latter part
of the Ayudhya period, for it is to the Burmese royal barge that they
show the closest resemblance.
1 2
Ibid., i, p. 283. Gr., Figs. 72 and 73. 3
Gr., Fig. 73, 6.
4
L. L., plate at p. 40 ; de Chaumont, plates at pp. 34 and 76 ; Taehard,
Figs. 19-22 (Fig. 2 in the present work).
The somewhat superficial resemblance between the modern Siamese

and Burmese royal barges is strengthened by evidence concerning the
figure-heads. An early text of the southern Tsi (A.D. 479-501 ) mentions
the barges of Funan as having the bow and stern shaped as the head
and tail of a fish.
1
In both classical Khmer barges and those of
seventeenth century Siam, the prow rose up comparatively abruptly
from the hull. Sometimes there was no figure-head, and the poop
and prow were formed by plain beams but when there was a figure-
;
head the most common form was that of a great fish (the stern
representing the tail). This was the primitive type, and is still seen
in the modern royal barge of Cambodia, and was found in the war barges
of Siam up to modern times, the prow of one of which is preserved in
the Bangkok museum. A more complicated form of figure-head in
classic Khmer times was that in which a seven-headed ndga issued
"
from the mouth of the fish, and doubtless the modern Ananta-
"
nagaraja was derived from that source. Sometimes the ndga-he&d.
was replaced by an apsaras, while figure-heads of Visnu on Garuola
were also used, as they were in recent times in Siam, there being one
dating from the reign of Rama IV preserved in the National Museum.
But in classical Cambodia there is no trace of the hahsa figure-head,
which, taken in conjunction with the more sweeping lines of the boat
on which it is used, gives us the most beautiful royal barge of modern
Siam. On the other hand, this figure-head was characteristic of the
Burmese royal barges, and was probably derived from the Mons,
since the hahsa was their most popular emblem. There seems no
doubt, therefore, that this feature was derived by the Siamese from
Burma, probably towards the end of the Ayudhya period, since the
seventeenth century Siamese barges have a rather primitive form of
this figure-head.
In classic Khmer times a rectangular curtained cabin was erected
amidships, at least in those barges not designed for warfare. In Siam,
both in the seventeenth century and to-day, this type of cabin is
found in the pavilion barges used by the King only in Kathina pro-
cessions and for the conveyance of royal offerings and formerly for
noblemen and ambassadors, while those used by the King on the
most important occasions such as the Coronation Progress (and in
the seventeenth century used to convey the French king's letter) are
t
known as throne (brah-di-ndn) barges, and have a smaller cabin crowned

by a prdsdda spire, such as is found on the summit of many Siamese
royal and religious buildings. This grdsdda spire is also found on the
Burmese barges, and is characteristic of Burmese royal buildings, for
1
Gr., p. 109.
CORONATION 115
example, the spire crowning the Mandalay palace. On the contrary,

nothing of the kind is found in Cambodia, at least until modern times,
when it has been copied from the Siamese. That the prdsdda spire
was evolved in Burma there can be no doubt a building of the eleventh
;
century at Pagan, the Bidagat Taik, has been well described as the
Mandalay spire in stone.
I conclude, therefore, that though the Siamese received their
first idea of a royal barge from the Khmers, as is obvious from the
design of the pavilion cabin and most of the figure-heads, yet they
were later much influenced by Burmese designs which gave them the
prdsdda-CYOwned throne-barge and the hansa figure-head, and thus
"
their most beautiful royal barge, the Subarnahansa ".
There are two other points of interest concerning the royal barges.
Firstly, at all periods,both in Cambodia and Siam, the barge was
steered by a man standing at the stern with a long paddle. That the
rudder was known to the ancient Khmers we know from the fact
that a Chinese junk with rudder is depicted on the reliefs of Ankor
Vat 1 but neither the Khmers nor the Siamese ever adopted this
;
mode of steering for their state barges. A second point noticeable

from a study of the classical reliefs is that the paddles were thrust
through holes which would prevent their being raised high out of the
water with a flourish at every stroke as in modern Siam. In the
seventeenth century barges the holes have disappeared, but none
show the paddles raised out of the water. Perhaps this
of the pictures
was also a modification introduced from Burma.
1
Or., Fig. 73, c .
CHAPTER VIII
CORONATION (continued)
INSTALLATION OP THE QUEEN AND ASSUMPTION OF THE EOYAL

RESIDENCE
1. The Installation of the Queen.
The Queen Rambai Barnl took place immediately

Installation of
after the General Audience on Coronation Day, 25th February, 1926.
It took place then because the King desired thus to honour his consort
(whom he married in 1917) immediately after his own attainment of

the supreme power, but there was no necessity for him to have done so.
The late King Rama VI did not raise his consort Cau Com Savathana
to queenly rank, and she was not, therefore, permitted to sit beside
him on state occasions and in Siamese history we find instances of
;
kings who, though possessed of wives, did not see fit to raise
many
any of them to the queenship. Nevertheless, there were normally
four queens, a greater and a lesser of the right, and a greater and
a lesser of the left, the former side being considered the more honourable,
aswas also the case with the officials of the two divisions. Not only
was it important for the king to secure the succession by fathering an
heir of the Cau Fa rank, but ancient Indian tradition considered a
queen as one of the royal ratnas which every king should possess. Thus,
says Manu :
"
Let him wed a consort of equal caste (mraa) who possesses
auspicious marks (on her body), and is born in. a groat family, who
is charming and possesses beauty and excellent qualities." 1
The sprinkling
(abhiseka) of queens is mentioned in the Cullakalinga
Jataka but queens are not mentioned in Vedic literature, and the
;
king's wives were considered of little account in those early times.

2
Although I have said that there is really no marriage ceremony
in Siam, the Installation of the Quoen has certain features in common
3
with marriage and Hocart has gone so far as to derive that institution
generally from Coronation. A common notion in ancient India was
that male =
heaven and female earth. =
Then the king might
be looked upon as a heavenly god, e.g. the Sun, and the queen as the
Goddess of Earth. The intercourse between a king and a concubine
1 2 3
Manu, vii, 77. p. 48. Hocart, Kingship, chap. viii.
116
CORONATION 117
could only be physical to make it spiritual the concubine had to be

;
raised to the royal status, i.e. she had to be identified with the deity,
just as was the king. Hence it seems to me that this Investiture of

the Queen may be looked upon as a kind of spiritual marriage.
Queen Rambai BarnI is a cousin of the King, but under the old
regime a Siamese king had three possible choices when he selected a
queen. He could promote a favourite concubine, the most usual
procedure he could marry a half-sister or even a full-sister
;
or he ;
could invite or accept the offer of a foreign princess. The latter is of

extremely rare occurrence in Siamese history, but it is believed to have
been accompanied by great pomp and circumstance.
I have mentioned elsewhere 1 that the installation of a sister as
queen was not particularly popular with Siamese kings, because of the
greater amount of deference that had to be shown to them. But apart
irom any relic of a former system of recognized matriarchy which this
custom may or may not represent, and which was certainly not taken
into account by any Siamese king, there were two very strong reasons
for the installation of sisters as queens. One of these was distinctly
practical, the other traditional, and connected with religion. In the
first place, if a royal sister were unmarried, it was still necessary
to confine her to the inner palace, for it was considered to entail
danger to the monarchy to allow her to marry anyone but the king ;
so it was safer to make

Secondly, there is the classical
her a queen.
Buddhist example of sister-marriage with the object of keeping the
royal line pure, which has been followed by later Buddhist kings.
The progenitor of the Sakya clan, in which Gautama was born,
was King Okakaraja, whose four sons founded the city of Kapilavastu.
These- four princes,
"
finding that among their followers there were no daughters of the
royal race whom they could marry, resolved, in order to keep pure
the blood-royal, to marry their four youngest sisters." 2
Queen Rambai Barni, on the occasion of her Installation, wore a

diadem and ancient queenly dress, of which it is particularly interesting
to note that it included the sarong, the classical lower garment of the
Khmers, and still worn by modern Cambodian and Siamese dancers.

The Siamese lower garment (phd-nuh) is an adaptation of the Indian
dhoti, and was introduced into Cambodia by Prince Sri Supanma of
Cambodia, who was captured and educated by the Siamese, and then
sent back to rule over his own country as a vassal in 1602, and who
was the means of introducing many Siamese rites and customs into
Bigandet, The Life and Legend of BvddJia, 3rd ed., p. 11.

1 8
p. 68.
Cambodia. The antique sarong worn by the Queen is thus a relic of

ancient Khmer
times, and is not to be confused with the sinn, the
national skirt of the Laos, the wearing of which has become a fashion
amongst upper class Siamese ladies only during the present century.
The ceremony commenced * by the Lord Privy Seal (Prince
Damrong) reading a proclamation announcing that the King, who
was now full crowned and thereby empowered, intended to raise his
consort to the rank of Queen (brah paraniarnjinl). The King, who
was in full state robes and wearing the Kathina Crown, then anointed
the Queen with consecrated water from a conch (PL XV), and invested
her with the paraphernalia of rank, including the insignia of the Royal
Family Order of Cakri, while a fanfare of ceremonial music was
sounded. The Queen then sat beside the King on a Royal Chair, and,
after receiving the congratulations and homage of the ladies,
they
retired to the Royal Residence scattering riches.
It is interesting to note that although the
ceremony is Brahmanical ,
being in fact a replica on a very small scale of the abhiseka of a king,

the Brahmans do not perform the anointment. Not only is there a
taboo against touching a royal lady, but the King, being himself fully
consecrated, a position to exercise his divine and priestly functions.
is in
The following is a probably not very reliable note on the ceremony

of Installation of a Queen as carried out in the reign of
King Rama V :
"
Three days are usually devoted to the purpose. The chief
the palace, the chief scribes, and the chief princes and
officers of
nobles of the kingdom are present, both Buddhist and Brahman.
The copiously bathed in pure water, in which the leaves
princess is
of a certain kind of
tree, supposed to possess purifying and healthful
influences, are put. Most of the time is spent in feasting, but on the
third day, she is placed on a small throne under a white
canopy,
where she is bathed with holy water, the priests reciting prayers
the while. She is then conducted to a place where the wet clothes
are laid aside, and she is arrayed in queenly costume,
jewels and
diamonds, and then displays herself to those in attendance." 2
2. The Assumption of the Royal Residence.

This ceremony, known as Chalom Brah Rdjamandira, corresponds
to the popular one of
housewarming commonly taking place after
marriage, with which it has been confused by Europeans. In the
case of the King it naturally follows the Coronation, when the King is
about to take up his official residence in the Grand Palace.
1
I find no mention of a
preliminary ceremonial bath of purification, and if there
was such a rite it presumably took place in
private.
1
Siam Repository, January, 1873.
PLATE XV.
THE ANOINTMENT OP TUB
[ To
O
M
w
H H
a
(X,
H
CORONATION 119
Housewarming ceremonies are doubtless world-wide, since as

"
Frazer says, Demons are especially feared by persons who have just
entered a new house." l There was such a ceremony in China, 2 but
the Siamese ceremony is
purely Buddhist, though with indications
of early magical rites, and was no doubt derived from Ceylon with
Hinayanism. Evidence for this is supplied by the following interesting
passage from the Nidana-kathd :
' k
On the next day the festivals of the coronation, and of the
housewarming, and of the marriage of Nanda, the king's son, were
3
being celebrated all together."
Here we have the housewarming mentioned in connection with

the coronation, exactly as we have it to-day in Siam.
The housewarming ceremonies in connection with the Coronation
of King Prajadhipok were as follows : been mentioned 4
It has already
that Buddhist monks had for three days prior to Coronation
Day been
engaged in the recitation of protective stanzas in all three parts of the
Chief Residence, especially in the Cakrabartibiman section. At
6 p.m. on the 25th of February the Brahmans also
performed a
vian dianrite, as a
protection to the Chief Residence. All this having
been accomplished, the King and Queen made their way to the State
Bedchamber in the Cakrabartibiman section, attended by young ladies
of the Royal Family (PI. XVI) bearing the
following articles of personal
and domestic use, and presumably the relics of former magical rites :
The cat (signifying Domesticity), the grinding stone (Firmness),

the gherkin (cool, therefore Happiness), and grains, peas, and sesamum
(Prosperity and Fertility) and an image of Buddha was first carried
;
into the residence, signifying the nature of the household

religion.
The Queen Aunts, Savang Vadhana, and Sukhumal, as senior
relatives of the King, handed to him a whisk of the White
Elephant's
tail, and a golden bunch of Areca Flowers, and then a senior Dame
of the Palace handed a golden key to the
King, symbolic of the fact
that he was now entrusted with the Royal Residence and the
private
treasury therein. Finally, the King lay down formally on the royal
couch and received blessing from the two Queen Aunts.
The sociological value of this essentially private ceremony seems
to be that by it the king would be impressed with the
sanctity of his
high office, not only as ruler of the country and people at large, but
also as guardian and protector of the private institutions of
royalty,
the welfare of the royal family and the sacred
apartments which had
1
GB. Hi, p. 63.
2
Mentioned in the Li Ki, SBE. xxvii, p. 196.
8 *
Rhys Davids, Buddhist Birth Stories, p. 226. p. 73.
been the residence of his ancestors. The ritual of his being blessed by
his relations, especially the senior queens, brings home to him more
closely than could any priestly benediction, the anxiety of the royal
family for his well-being, as well as his responsibility for theirs. Thus,
though there are indications that the ceremony was formerly accom-
panied by certain magical rites which have now been lost, it remains,
in its present form, an institution of considerable sociological
importance.
In Cambodia there is practically the same
ceremony of Assumption
of the Residence as that described above, and it has
evidently been
introduced into that country from Siam. But a remarkable difference
is that the astrologers take part and address
prayers to the guardian
spirits of the umbrella and of the palace, and pretend to receive satis-
1
factory promises of protection from them. This seems to be a case
of the Brahmans, who retained more influence in Cambodia than they
did in Siam, interfering in a ceremony that did not concern them
originally.
1
L., Coronation du roi Sisoicath.
CHAPTER IX
HIGHER GRADES IN ROYAL CONSECRATION

l
1 .
Pnsydbhiselca .
In India the idea of the consecration of kings differed from ours

in that there was not a single and final tk coronation ", but numerous
ascending grades of anointment (abhiseka), spread over a number of
years, perhaps throughout the lifetime of the monarch. Correlated
with this was the idea that the divinity of a king required a periodical
renewing.
In Siam there was such a periodical royal consecration, known as
pusydbhiseka, which used to take place in the second Siamese lunar
month (Pausa), but it was discontinued after the fall of Ayudhya.
The object of the
ceremony is said to have been the maintenance
of the welfare of the kingdom, presumably by means of the reinforce-
ment of the king's divine powers. The king mounted a dais (mantapa
piled with fresh flowers of seven kinds, changed his attire, and anointed
himself. Eight Brahmans were in attendance and offered a
blessing.
They then performed a dance known as denvisai (" the angel tourna-
ment "), of Hindu origin, and performed at Siamese state festivals up
to modern times.
This ceremony corresponds to the Indian pusydbhiseka, the
special
feature of which was that it took place at the conjunction of the moon
with .the asterism pusyd, which feature was retained in Siam. It was
at this time that Indra 2
originally conquered the demons, and the
coronation of Rama was also an example of pusydbhiseka ;
but it was
not confined to the inauguration of 3
sovereignty.
2. Indrabhiseka.
We have already seen that the Siamese Rdjdbhiseka contains many
ideas derivedfrom the Vedic Rdjasuya, or consecration of emperors.
There was also in Vedic India another ceremony for the consecration
of emperors, known as the Indrdbhiselea or anointment with the ,
rites of Indra. It is described in the

Brahmana, but, though
Aitareya
the Siamese have preserved the ancient name, the
ceremony with
which they connect it seems to have little in common with that of
1
Sources:BUB., p. 76 ; mentioned in NN. (p. 70), KM. and HV.
2
Ramayana, n, 14, 46. 3
ERE. art. "Abhiseka".
121
Vedic times. Indeed, the only recorded instance of it ever having

been performed in Siam seems to be the occasion on which King
Ramadhipatl II in A.D. 1510 successfully brought the northern part
of what is now Siam under the sway of Ayudhya, and thus considered
himself entitled to the rank of emperor. The KM. gives an account
of the Siamese ceremony of Indrdbhiseka, but the following is only an
approximately correct translation of this peculiarly difficult and

ambiguous passage :
"
For the royal ceremony of Indrdbhiseka a Meru, of a height of
1 sen 5 vd, 1 is built in the middle of an open space. There Indra
sits on the Meru, surrounded by Isindhara and Yugundhara mountains,
one sen high and there stand Karavika Mountain 15 vd high and
;
Mount Kailasa 10 vd high. On the inside are golden umbrellas, in the

middle are red gold umbrellas, and those of silver are outside. Outside
these again is a rdjavdt 2 fence with umbrellas of five colours. Within
the umbrellas stand figures of devatd, and outside them is a rdjavdt
fence. Paper umbrellas and figures of giants (ydksa, gandharba,
rdksasa) stand at the foot of the Meru, and there are figures of various
kinds of lions (gajasiha, rajaslha, sinto, kilen), goat-antelopes, cows,
buffaloes, tigers, bears, and devatd. On Kailasa sits a figure of Siva
and graceful Uma. On the top of Meru is a figure of Indra. Figures of
asuras are in the middle of the Meru ;
Visnu sleeps on the water at
the foot of the Meru, and a seven-headed ndga encircles the Meru.
Outside the open space stand asuras, and outside the walls are dancing
halls. Lictors are dressed as 100 asuras, and pages represent 100
devatd. There are Ball, Sugrlva, Mahajambhu, and a train of 103
monkeys. They the asuras pull the head, the
pull the ancient ndga :
devatd pull the tail, and the monkeys are at the end of the tail. One
side of Meru is gold, one side is red gold, one side crystal, one side
silver, the Yugundhara mountain is gold, the Isindhara is red gold,

Karavika and Kailasa are silver. On the surrounding space outside
are elephants, horses, and the four divisions of the army. Officials of
10,000 marks of dignity wear precious stones and put on coats and
silk pha-nun of honour. Those of 5,000 grade wear golden hats and
put on coats and splendid silk pha-nun. Those of 3,000 wear hats of
foreign silk and coats and silk pha-nun. Those of 2,400 to 1,200
marks of dignity carry silver and gold flowers according to rank,
with flowers and pop-corn to pay homage. Brahmans of various
1
1 va = 1 fathom, 1 sen = 20 fathoms.
2
The rdjavdt fence is made of lattice, decorated at intervals with small tiered paper
umbrellas. erected around the area in which ceremonies are performed
It is when
these take place in the open air, in order to exclude evil influences.
HIGHER GRADES IN ROYAL CONSECRATION 123
sects sit within the enclosure. On the first day there is kdrdhibhasa
(a discourse ?) on the second day rdpvdn (all is quiet ?)
; on the ;
third day srdnvdn (the building goes on ?) ; and on the fourth day
capsamiddha (?) and on the fifth day they pull the ancient ndga.
;
On the sixth day they make three pools of angelic water, a three-
headed elephant, a white horse, and a king of oxen. They take arms,
elephant weapons, and ropes for catching elephants, and steep them in
water. They take one hundred figures of $iva. Visnu, Indra, and
Visvakarma, and bear utensils for following the custom of entering to
offera blessing (thvdy brahbar). On the seventh day the Brahmans
offer a blessing and on the eighth day the king offers a blessing on ;
the ninth day they offer the elephants and horses and the four divisions
of the army on the tenth day they offer the twelve treasuries on the
; ;
eleventh day they offer the taxes on the twelfth day they offer the
;
city on the thirteenth day they offer the consecrated water on the
; ;
fourteenth day they make offerings to the devatd on the fifteenth day ;
they make offerings to the king on the sixteenth day they make;
offerings to the princes on the seventeenth day the king rewards

;
the Brahmans on the eighteenth day there are offerings of kalpavrksa

;
l
fruits on the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first days gold and
;
silver flowers are scattered. For a month theatricals are performed.
They build a standing effigy of a giant 1 sen high. The pages represent
monkeys and go out through openings in its ears, nose, eyes, and
mouth, and drive in royal cars scattering alms about the city. This
is the end of Indrdbhiseka."
One immediately identifies the above as a sort of theatrical
"
representation of the myth of the Churning of the Ocean ", as told
in the Rdmdyana ; and it gives one the impression of being an old-
time description of the type of popular festival of which the Siamese
have always been so passionately fond. At first sight, however, one
might fail to appreciate the connection between this and the idea of
an Indrdbhiseka. But since Mount Meru is the home of Indra, it
appears that in this ceremony the king is identified with that
" "
god, and the Churning of the Ocean and the other entertainments
are performed in his honour.
3. A Comparative View of Royal Consecration Ceremonies.

Before passing on to the consideration of other Ceremonies of
Installation, it will be convenient to pause here to note to
what extent
Siamese Royal Consecration Ceremonies fall into line with those of
other countries. In his book on Kingship 2 Hocart brings forward what
,
1 *
See page 146. Chapter vii.
124 SIAMESE STATE CEKEMONIES
appears to me very convincing evidence for the common origin of all

coronation ceremonies within a very wide area, stretching from Fiji
to Western Europe. No one will deny the probability of common
origin within the Indian sphere, and the countries with which Hocart
deals have one important feature in common they were for very :
many centuries connected by maritime intercourse. But, as I have

already mentioned in Chapter I, this very fact precludes our allowing
this theory of common origins a world-wide application, at any rate
in the present state of our knowledge. And that this is fully realized
by Hocart indicated by the admirable wish with which he concludes

is
"
his chapter on the subject May we hope that the present study will
:
serve as a stimulus to others to seek out other more distant forms and
"
thus widen the basis of our inquiry ?
I fear I cannot be of much assistance in that way, at least so far
as Coronation is concerned, because the Cambodian Coronation,
which is so similar to that of Siam, is one of the examples which he
analyses. However, his study of the Cambodian ceremony is not very

detailed or satisfactory, and it may, therefore, be worth while to
see what light Siam can contribute. He analyses the complete
coronation ceremony into twenty-six parts. Not all these twenty-six
components are to be found in the ceremony of any one country in the
area with which he deals, because each country seems to have lost
one or more factors. Even so, the resemblance between the coronation
ceremonies of the countries in that area is very remarkable.
all
I will now
quote the components as Hocart tabulates them,
placing in square brackets those which definitely do not seem to be
represented in Siam:
(a) The theory is that the King [(1) dies] (2) is reborn;(3) as a god. ;
But the idea of death must formerly have existed since it is implied
by the rebirth as a god.
(6) By way of preparation [he fasts and] practises other austerities.
For three days beforehand the King attends preparatory Buddhist
religious services, and keeps the Buddhist precepts.
(c) (1) Persons not admissible to the sacrifice , such as strangers,
sinners, women, and children, are kept away, and are not allowed to know
anything (2) an armed guard prevents prying eyes.
;
In Siam the palace
is, of course, strictly guarded, and the more important ceremonies
are, or used to be, distinctly private.
(d) [A kind of sabbath is observed the people are silent and lie quiet
;
as at death.'] One would not expect to find this in Siam, since the idea
of death, in connection with Coronation, has been lost.
(e) The King must fight a ritual combat [(1) by arms, or] (2) by
HIGHER GRADES IN ROYAL CONSECRATION 125
ceremonies, and (3) come out victorious. In Siam the combat is evidently
fought and the victory attained by means of ritual, but note the
presence of the Sword of Victory and the other arms.
(/) The King is (I) admonished to rule justly, and (2) promises to
do so. But not with the emphatic type of oath used in many countries.
(g) [He receives communion in one or two kinds.] Soma drinking
has disappeared in all Buddhist countries.
(h) The people indulge at one point in [(1) obscenities] or, (2)
buffoonery. Except at the last coronation, there were theatrical

performances for the benefit of the public.
(i) The King is invested with special garments. In Siam the new
King wears for the first time the ancient regal garments, including a
long tunic.
(j) He is baptized with water the purificatory bath in Siam
(k) and anointed ivith oil but the oil is replaced by water inSiam
(I) [when a human victim is killed]
(m) and the people rejoice with noise and acclamations. In Siam
there are the fanfares, firing of cannon, and ringing of bells,
(n) and a feast is given especially the feeding of the monks.

(o) The King is crowned,
(p) puts on shoes,
(q) and receives other regalia, such as a sword, a ring, etc.,
(r) ami sits upon a throne.
(s) [He takes three ceremonial steps in imitation of the rising sun.]
But in the ceremony on the octagonal throne he first faces the direction
of the rising sun.
(t) At the conclusion of the ceremonies he goes the round of his

dominions and receives the homage of the vassals. Circumambulation
of the city.
(u) He receives a new name.

(v) The Queen is consecrated with the King but not necessarily,
in Siam.
(w) So are the vassals or officials either at the coronation ceremony,

or in the course of the King's tour. In Siam the King confirms the
officials in their offices at the coronation audience.
(x) [Those who take part in the rites are dressed up as gods, sometimes
with masks]
(y) [which may be those of animals, thus identifying the wearer with
some kind of beast].
(z) A King may be consecrated several times, going up each time one
step in the scale of kingship, e.g. Indrdbhiseka in Siam.
CHAPTER X
THE TONSURE CEREMONY
The Tonsure Ceremony in Siam is a rite of initiation of youths,
corresponding to the Hindu Culdkantah Mahgala. It is the most
important of the Hindu samskaras, or initiation rites, still surviving
in Siam, the only others that are to some extent observed being the
SiJcjdlhahpahnah Mahgala (ceremony of shaving the first hair of the
new-born), Ndma Mahgala (ceremony of giving the first name to the

child), and NaJihdnah Titllia Mahgala (auspicious rite of taking a
child to water and teaching him to swim), the latter now reserved for
princes and princesses of Cau Fa rank.
It will be readily appreciated that the study of most of these
samsTcdras does not fall within the scope of the present work for the
reason that they are connected with the childhood of kings (princes
and commoners as well), and are private rather than state ceremonies.
The Tonsure Ceremony, at least that form of it in which a prince of
Cau Fd rank is the initiate,however, an exception, since it throws

is,
considerable light on certain aspects of the kingship Firstly, the :
reigning king, or his substitute, plays the role of the god Siva,
and this,
it willbe shown, is of great importance in connection with the concep-
"
tion of the kingship and the theory of temporary kings ". This
aspect of the ceremony has, so far as I know, not been elaborated by
any European writer, and is not understood by the Siamese. Secondly,
a close relationship can easily be traced between the Coronation and
the Tonsure Ceremonies. The resemblance between the two series
of rites is most apparent in the tonsure of royalty, less so in that of the
nobles and commoners. Gerini went so far as to compare the two
"
ceremonies in the words The tonsure for a prince of so high a station
:
(Cau Fd) becomes an imposing State Ceremony which may be ranked

as second only to the Coronation of a king
>M but it remained for
;
Hocart to trace the parallelism in detail, and advance the theory

2
of the actual derivation of both Initiation and Coronation from some

earlier common Ceremony of Installation. He does not, however,
include either theCambodian or the Siamese Tonsure Ceremonies
among those which he analyses, and which would strongly support
his theory.
The very detailed knowledge which we possess concerning the
Siamese Tonsure Ceremony is due to Gerini's scholarly monograph
1 2 xii.
Ge. (1), p. 94. Kingship, chapter
126
THE TONSURE CEREMONY 127
which remains the only instance of a Siamese Brahmanic ceremony

having been made the subject of profound study and research. Though
further study might show that Gerini's work is neither infallible nor
exhaustive, for the purpose of supporting the above mentioned theories
his facts will be adequate, especially as there has now been no
opportunity of witnessing the Tonsure of a Cau Fa prince for many

years, the last occasion being that of the present King. The following
is a condensed summary of the facts adduced by Gerini, on which I
shall base my conclusions concerning the two aspects of the ceremony

with which we are concerned in the present work :
In Siam, Tonsure takes place either in the eleventh or thirteenth

years, whereas it was performed in India between the sixteenth and
twenty-fourth years, according to the caste of the candidate. The
change to an earlier date in Siam is evidently due to Buddhism, since
when a boy enters the novitiate, which event must take place before
the fourteenth year (not earlier than the ninth), the Buddhist Tonsure
of the whole head is performed unceremoniously and it is important
;
that the Brahmanic Tonsure, with the rites due to the three privileged
castes, should previously have been disposed of with all due ceremony.
The Tonsure of princes is designated Sokdnta, in distinction from
that of nobles and commoners, which is known as kdra Icon cuk. The
generic and at the same time classic Pali term used in Siam is Cula-
kdntaJi mail yala (corresponding to the Sanskrit kcsdnta). The Sokdnta
differs in the main from the kdra kon cuk by reason of the fact that in
the former a special artificial mountain (Kailasa) within the palace
grounds is
used, whereas in the latter the ceremonies are carried out
on an ordinary ceremonial dais with canopy, erected in the private
house of the initiate's family. For princes of Brah Anga Cau and
Hmom Cau rank, a permanent rocky structure about ten feet high, and
situated within the precincts of the palace, is utilized as a Kailasa ;
but for Cau Fa a special mountain of from 20 to 46 feet in height is

built. The reason for the use of a structure symbolizing the Kailasa
is Brahmanical tradition, the Sokdnta is carried out
that, following
in accordance with the ceremonial which accompanied the mythical
tonsure of Siva's son Ganesa on Mount Kailasa. The Siamese have
a standard text-book of cosmology called Tmibhumi (" the three
worlds "), which was compiled in A.D. 1776 from ancient Buddhist
l
texts in the Pali language. Gerini gives a fairly full explanation of
this world-system,but for our purpose it is sufficient to note that
though the arrangement differs considerably from that of the ancient
Hindus, and the Kailasa has lost its classical position, it nevertheless
1
Ge. (1), pp. 95 sqq.
retains its significance as the home of the god $iva. With the necessary
modifications due to the smallness of the scale on which the work
must be carried out and the necessity of reaching the summit by means
of ladders instead of supernatural power, the Kailasa used at the
Sokdnta is an attempt to portray the traditional wonders of the Great
God's'home (PL XVII).
In the case of the Tonsure of the late king, then Cau Fa Maha
Vajiravudh, which took place in December, 1892, and to which all
the following details of the Sokanta refer, the Kailasa was forty feet
high. It was a hollow structure of plaited bamboos, supported on poles
and covered with tinsel of the appearance of gold and silver. On its
summit towered a central pavilion which was profusely gilded and
decorated. Inside it were placed urns containing sacred relics and
hallowed water for the anointment. This pavilion was surrounded
by a rdjavdt fence, decorated with the usual tiered umbrellas
and sunshades, with gateways at the four cardinal points. At the
four corners stood the guardians of the quarters. On the northern
and southern sides of the terrace stood chapels containing images of
the Hindu deities. Access to the top of the hill was provided by two
ladders leading up in opposite directions, one from the east and ono
from the west, while at the base of these were landing stages suitable
for the approach of palanquins. Half-way up the hill was situated
the grotto for the aspersion of the candidate. It was carved in the
tinsel rock with a floor representing the Anotatta lake in miniature
in front of which was a marble platform on which the candidate was
to stand while receiving the aspersion with the hallowed water led
through the mouths of four effigies, representing horse, elephant,

lion, and bull respectively. A
little to the right of the grotto was a
small pavilion in which the candidate was to change his apparel after
the bathing. All over the Kailasa were representations of ascetics,
bird-men, and the various fabulous animals of the Himalayan fairy-
land l ; while set-pieces illustrating episodes from the Hindu epics and
other stories were also to be seen.
The Tusita Maha Prasada had been prepared as a " rites hall ",
and here on the eve of the festival (25th December), Buddhist monks
most State Ceremonies,
recited paritta texts, for in the Tonsure, as in
Buddhist modifications have been appended to what was once a
purely Hindu observance. At the same time the Court Brahmans
performed their preliminary rites in a chapel erected outside the
Tusita Maha Prasada.
The morning of the first day of the festival (26th December), was
1
Mentioned in detail on pp. 167 sq.
given up to the recitation of partita texts in the Tusita Maha Prasada,

and the usual presentation of food to the monks who had officiated.
In the afternoon the prince was borne on a palanquin in a royal
procession and by a circuitous route to the Tusita Hall, first filing
past the King, who then, by a direct route, was also carried on a
palanquin to the Tusita Maha Prasada. Here he assisted the prince
from his palanquin and they both made offerings of tapers arid incense
before the sacred images. At the same time another of the King's
sons of Cau Fa rank made similar offerings before the images on the
Kailasa, where a chapter of monks was engaged in consecrating the
aspersion water. These ceremonies completed, the prince returned
by the same route, this time seated on the same palanquin as his
father, who again assisted him to alight. Similar ceremonies were
performed on the afternoons of the following two days (27th and 28th
December).
On these occasions the candidate was dressed in a handsome
costume of white, richly embroidered with gold, a small jewelled
coronet similar in form to the king's mankut, and heavy gold bangles
on wrists and ankles. The procession was made up in much the same
way as is the state progress of a king. First marched military units,
then came pages dressed as devata, and groups of boys dressed in the
costumes of various countries, but all wearing the toupet which
showed that they had not yet reached adolescence there were red
;
and green drummers Brahmans scattering parched rice

of victory,
or playing ceremonial instruments, and damsels bearing peacock
standards then came the prince's palanquin accompanied by royal
;
umbrella, sunshade, and fan ;

officials impersonating devas of the Indra
and Brahma heavens, and maids of honour carrying the royal insignia
denoting the rank of the prince. Next followed a bevy of young girls
wearing the toupet, and lastly, pages leading caparisoned chargers.
During the proceedings the usual entertainments, common to all
great state festivals, were in progress for the amusement of the public.
On the Day of Tonsure (28th December), the auspicious moment
for performing the operation was declared by the hord to be between
6.6 a.m. and 6.59 a.m. The young prince was borne in procession
to the Tusita Maha Prasada by a shorter route than on the previous
days. Clad in white garments, and wearing jewelled coronet and
bangles, he was led to a Chair of State in front of the officiating
monks, who recited the usual paritta texts. In the Ayudhya period
the Cau Fa candidate was actually tonsured on the Bhadrapitha
Throne, on which was laid a lion's skin. After the topknot had been
parted into five tufts, the King, as the auspicious time drew near,
placed on the candidate's right hand the Ring of the Nine Gems
(brah mahd vijiara nabratana dharmarafiga). Then the King poured
on to the prince's head a few drops of lustral water from a chank shell,
the favourable moment was proclaimed by the sounding of ceremonial
instruments, and the King severed three of the tufts with golden
shears. The remaining two were severed by the two eldest princes in
attendance, after which the head of the Eoyal Wardrobes Department

completed the shaving.
Following the conclusion of the actual Tonsure, the King proceeded
to the Kailasa mountain, where he was to receive the candidate, who
was carried thither in state, this time wearing a tnala royal hat, which
reminds one of the custom of a king when proceeding to and from
ceremonial halls at the time of his coronation. On arrival at the
Kailasa the prince was assisted from the palanquin by the King, and
led to the Anotatta lake. Seated on the bathing platform, with matum
leaves placed over his right ear and phronmdian leaves on the left, and
holding tightly a charm called krahpofi bejra ("diamond-cudgel"),

the water from the mouths of the symbolical beasts of the cave was
showered down upon him. This preliminary bath over, the King
advanced and poured the contents of the great chank shell upon the
head of the prince. The Queen, and other relatives in order of rank,
came forward and poured water from other chank shells on to the
prince's head. Finally, the chief Brahman did likewise. The prince
was then led to the pavilion, where he changed his white bathing
garments for the gorgeous apparel of a prince of the highest rank,
with jewelled mala hat.
We now come to a most interesting part of the ceremony, that of
the reception on the Mountain by the god Siva (PL XVIII). The King,
dressed in full state, wearing the Great Crown of Victory, and holding
in his hand the Sword of Victory, impersonated Siva, and, accom-
panied by princes and nobles dressed to represent the god's courtiers,

he ascended to his palace on the top of Kailasa. Thence he commanded
two of his celestial attendants to descend to the pavilion at the side
of the hillwhere the young prince was waiting. They led him up the
mountain by the western approach to where, at the top of the stairs,
Siva was waiting. The latter presented him to the public, who offered
homage, and the two then proceeded to the central pavilion on the
top of the hill. There the prince, amid the congratulations of all
present, received from the King's hand a jewelled coronet larger than
the one he had formerly worn, and other insignia of high station. The
prince was then led to the western approach, and descended with.
the help of the god's two attendants.
PLATE XVIIT.
RECEPTION OP THK TONSURATR BY SIVA (Kinci KAMA ?)

MOUNT KAILASA.
1
CT
PISTES XTX,
TONSVRATK SBATBD IN FULL AFTER THE CEREMONY,

Since the prince was now deemed to have received his apotheosis,
all those who had formed part of the procession, excepting only the
Brahmans, changed their white garments for pink ones as a sign
that the period of fasting and purification had
terminated, and the
white garments, required as a symbol of
purity when taking the vow
of observance of the Buddhist slla
precepts, could now be cast aside
for the worldly attire used on festive occasions. The
companies of
youths who took part in the procession changed their coronets for
conical hats in an endeavour to conceal their
topknots so as to appear
that they also had received the tonsure. For the same reason the
young girls wearing the toupet were replaced by older ones who had
already received the tonsure. The procession, having thus been
reconstituted, circumambulated the Kailasa mountain three times,
pradaksma-vrise.
Of the remaining rites it will be sufficient to note that in the
afternoon of the Day of Tonsure, a golden throne surmounted by a
three-tiered umbrella was erected in the centre of the Tusita Hall
for the prince, the rank such as jewelled betel-box, water
insignia of
receptacle, spittoon, etc., being arranged on side tables as in the
Coronation (PI. XIX). A second throne was
placed in the eastern apse
for the use of the
King, the western and northern compartments being
reserved for members of the Eoyal
Family and officials respectively.
At 5 p.m. the prince, arrayed in robes of state, was escorted to the
Tusita Hall, where the King in full
regal attire and wearing the
Great Crown, received him. Pai-srl
trays of food were offered to the
spirit (Jchvdn) of the young prince which, after a period of
wandering
during his early childhood, now comes to rest finally in the body of
the tonsurate. Then the Brahmans performed a vian dian rite,
wafting the smoke towards the prince. The Brahman head-priest
gave the tonsurate three tablespoonfuls of cocoa-nut milk mixed
up with food from the pai-6ri$ (as food for the khvdn). Then he tied
round his ankles the usual protective threads
(corresponding to the
say sincana), and lastly, anointed him in the form of a unakm scroll
(sign of Siva) on the left palm, it being forbidden to touch so sacred
a part of a prince's
body as the forehead. The tonsurate himself,
however, after passing the point of his right forefinger across the left
palm, described his own unction on the space between his eyebrows.
The King completed this final anointment
by pouring a few drops on
the prince's forehead from the
great conch shell. The ceremonies for
the day were brought to an end
by the presentation to the prince
of gifts from the
King and members of the Royal Family, but all the
ceremonies of the afternoon were repeated on the afternoons of the
following two days (30th and 31st December). The last day of the
festival (1st January) was devoted to the carrying of the hair in state
procession down the river, and ceremoniously casting it into the

water.
The above completes our summary of the facts concerning the
Sokdnta, and it will now be possible to draw certain conclusions from
them. Firstly, as regards the part played by the King in impersonating

1
Siva, Gerini has shown that in the Sokdntas recorded in the Siamese
Annals for the Ayudhya period, and in the early part of the Bangkok
period, the King never filled the role of Siva himself, but appointed
some prince of high rank as a substitute. King Kama IV was the
to perform this part in person, and his example was followed by
first
King Rama V
in the tonsure of Prince (afterwards King) Vajiravudh
and of his other sons. But the earliest Sokdnta of which Gerini was
able to find a detailed description dates back only to A.D. 1633, although
he finds mention of a Tonsure Ceremony as far back as A.D. 1358. It is
almost certain that the Brahmanical rites of Culdkantahmangala were
introduced about the ninth century A.D., and had we fuller details of
the rites as performed in the Sukhodaya period, I feel sure that we
should find that the King performed the part of Siva in person.
Later we should find the substitution of a prince or high noble when
the idea had arisen that it was dangerous for the King to perform his
magical and divine functions himself. The substitute was, in fact,
" " " "
a temporary king or temporary god in this ceremony, just
as he was in a number of other State Ceremonies where the chief part
was formerly played by the King. Later, in the Bangkok period, the
came to be forgotten, as it has been in
raison d'etre of the substitute
the other State Ceremonies, and the King resumed his early functions.
But the Sokanta, as performed in the fourth and fifth reigns of the
present dynasty, is especially remarkable as showing the extreme
form of this return to former conditions, the King not merely being
present as a spectator, instead of being confined to his palace, but
actually carrying out in detail all the traditional functions of a god.
This is as far as I can go with this subject in the present chapter.
When we have studied the other ceremonies in which the idea of a
substitute for the divine monarch exists, we shall be in a better position
to further elaborate and strengthen the theory of " temporary kings ". 2
The second aspect of the Tonsure Ceremony to be considered is
its relationship to the Coronation. The resemblance between the two
ceremonies may indeed appear sufficiently obvious from the summary
1
Go. (1), p. 130 f.n,, and pp. 138 sqq.
2
See Chapter XXII,
"
Temporary Kings."
of the Sokdnta rites already given, but it will be convenient once

more to make use of Hocart's table of analysis in order to show the
main corresponding features as clearly as possible, again placing
in square brackets those featiires not represented in Siam :
(a) The theory is that the King [(1 ) dies] ; (2) is reborn ; (3) as a god.
Here again I find no explicit idea of death, but it must be implied, since
the tonsurate is definitely reborn, i.e. he is initiated to a new life, that
of maturity. This is especially shown in the substitution for the
young girls in the procession those who have been tonsured, and by the
hats worn by the boys in an endeavour to conceal their topknots.
That he is reborn as a god is certain he becomes Diva's son Ganesa.
(b) By way of preparation he fasts and practises other austerities.
This is indicated in the case of the Sokdnta by the dressing in white
and the observance of the slla precepts by the candidate and his
attendants.
(c) (1) Persons not admissible to the sacrifice, such as strangers,
sinners,women, and children, are kept away, and are not allowed to
know anything (2) an armed guard prevents prying eyes. This feature
;
isundoubtedly exhibited in a marked degree in the Sokdnta, since the

reception on the Kailasa and the rites performed in the palace of oiva
thereon are essentially secret and mystical.
(d) A kind of sabbath is observed; the people are silent and lie quiet as
death. This is distinct in the Sokdnta, though not found in the
Coronation. The people rigidly observe the slla precepts, and
1
silence is by tradition during all tonsure rites.
enjoined
(e) The King must fight a ritual combat [(L) by arms or] (2) by
ceremonies, and (3) come out victorious. This is less definite than in
the Coronation, but we still have the Brahmanical sacrifices and the
presence of the Sword of Victory and the drums of victory.
(/) The King is (1) admonished to rule justly, (2) promises to do so.
The whole object of initiation is obviously that the candidate should
appreciate that he has now passed to man's estate and will be expected
to conduct himself accordingly.
(g) He receives communion in one or two kinds. In partaking of
the khvdn's food it seems to me that we may have a survival of a
Brahmanical form of communion which has disappeared in the
Coronation.
(h) The people engage at one point in [(1) obscenities'] and (2)
buffoonery. There are the usual games and entertainments here as at

the Coronation.
(i) The King is invested with special garments. This is also the
1
Ge. (1), p. 129.
case with the tonsurate, and the garments are similar to those worn
by kings.
(j) He
is baptized with water the ceremonial bath on the Kailasa
and anointed with oil, but, as in Coronation, the oil is replaced
(k)
by water in Siam
(I) [when
a human victim is killed]
(m) and the people rejoice with noise and acclamations. There is
the public homage when the prince is presented to the people on the
Kailasa but it is not the custom for the people to show their joy
;
on these occasions in a noisy manner when in the presence of royalty,

(n) and a feast is given. The officiating monks are fed on this as
on the occasion of other important religious festivals.
(o) The King is crowned and so is the tonsurate.
(p) Puts on shoes special shoes are part of the ceremonial dress
of the tonsurate,
(q)and receives other regalia such as a sword, a sceptre, a ring, etc.

We have seen that the candidate is presented by Siva with a special
ring, and the krahpdn bejra charm, representing the Vajiravudha or
adamantine mace of Indra, and corresponding to a sceptre. Other
insignia such as betel-box, water-receptacle, etc., are presented to
the prince, and he is accompanied when in procession by pages
holding state umbrella, sunshade, and fan, while the throne on which
the final rites are performed is shaded by a three-tiered white umbrella.
The sword does not appear amongst the insignia of the prince,
presumably on account of the taboo against carrying weapons in the
immediate presence of the King.
(r) and sits upon a throne.
[He takes three ceremonial steps in imitation of the rising* sun.]

(s)
dominions, and receives the homage of the vassals. We have the

circumambulation of the prince, after receiving his apotheosis, around
the artificial mountain, symbolical of his father's home Kailasa.
(u) He receives a new name. It is now the custom to change the
name and titles of royal children on the occasion of the river bathing
ceremony. The account of the Tonsure of Prince In in 1633, as
recorded in the Siamese Annals shows, however, that the name and
"
titles were formerly changed at the Sokdnta He received from the
:
King's hands a golden plate (subarnapdta) on which were engraved

his new rank and title." l
(v) [The Queen is consecrated with the King.]

(w) [So are the vassals or officials either at the coronation ceremony
1
Ge. (1), p. 138.
i/ '
or in the course of the King's tour.] In Siam a Cau Fa prince was
always tonsured in a special festival for himself alone. But the

presence of numerous untonsured youths who make believe that they
have been tonsured after the ceremony suggests that at one time the
prince's youthful followers also received initiation with their royal
master.
(x) Those who take part in the rites are dressed up as gods [sometimes
with masks]. We have the impersonation of Siva by the King or his
substitute.
(y) [which may be those of animals, thus identifying the wearer

with some kind of beast]. But the presence of the mythical beasts from
the Himalayan fairyland is to be noted.
step in the scale of kingship. And it seems that Tonsure is to be regarded
as the preliminary step.
The Tonsure Ceremony is undoubtedly falling into dis-esteem with
the growth of modern Siam. Its greatest enemy has for centuries been
the sdmanera, or Buddhist novice ordination, which fulfils all the
functions of a Ceremony of Initiation, besides being a part of the
living religion of the people. Thus while the entry to the Buddhist
novitiate has a definite meaning in the eyes of the people, and to have
a son in the yellow robe is the pride of every Siamese mother, on the
other hand the kara kon cuk has little more in its favour than that it is
auspicious, and pen dkarmniam (is the custom). The preservation
of the topknot through the years of early youth hasbecome too irksome
a duty to be expected of the modern Bangkok schoolboy, and
consequently, its tradition undermined by Buddhist modifications
"
and Western education ", it is rare to see a topknot in Bangkok except
on the heads of young and pampered scions of nobility. It is, however,
still a common sight amongst the unsophisticated people of rural
districts.
*' *"
A Sokdnta of the first order, that of a Cau Fa prince, not having

been performed for many remembered of it by most
years, little is
Siamese. But it is probable that the festival would be carried out

on something approaching its former scale were there the occasion
for it and, since no king of the present dynasty (except the founder)
;
has failed to undergo the Sokanta, it is important to consider the

sociological value of this ceremony in connection with the kingship.
The effect which the ceremonies have on the onlookers is not of primary
importance, since the Tonsure occurs within the precincts of the

Grand Palace, and is witnessed only by a comparatively small number
of people. On the other hand, as with all initiation ceremonies, it is
the effect upon the initiate himself that is the essential feature, and
from this follows the indirect but equally important effect which the
initiation has on the welfare of the people as a whole. Indeed, the
SoJcdnta of a Can Fa prince, who is later to be a king, undoubtedly has
been an institution of great sociological value in Siam in the past, and
will continue to be such so long as the present conception of the
monarchy exists. However ignorant of the meaning of the complicated
rites theyoung prince may be, he must at least subconsciously realize
that this festival signifies a break with childhood days, that he must
begin to take life seriously, and that lie is a person of great importance
on whom will eventually rest the responsibility for the welfare of the
people. Again, I often heard it remarked at the time of the last
coronation that the proceedings must have constituted a great ordeal
for the King, the
speakers evidently thinking that he had experienced
nothing like it before. They had evidently forgotten the Sokdnta,
than which no finer training for a possible heir to the throne in regal
bearing and the duties that might later be required of him could
possibly be conceived. Taking place in early youth, the most
impressionable period of his life, this first lesson is never likely to be
forgotten.
Unfortunately, signs are not wanting that this important institu-
tionis not likely forever to escape the
undermining influences of the
West. Young princes brought up, as they will be in the future, in
surroundings bristling with European influences, and having had
their first taste of life in one of the modern
" "
public schools of
Bangkok, will look askance at this seemingly incongruous episode.
There is, indeed, evidence that Siamese youth never did take very
kindly to the ceremony ; for example, in the case of the SoJcdnta of
Prince Issaresra Cudamani in 1821 This young prince was evidently
:
possessed of a mind of his own, for after having fainted at one stage
of the long drawn-out proceedings, he next day stubbornly refused
to be dressed in the state robes and coiffed in the
heavy coronet,
"
exclaiming, D'ye think you can yet deck and daub me up like a
" l
mannikin ?
1
Ge. (1), p. 144.
CHAPTER XI
CREMATION *
THE CEREMONIES
1.
Preliminary Considerations.
Cremation is the only means of disposal of the remains of deceased
royalty in Siam. It is, in fact, the means by which the vast majority
of the Siamese people dispose of their dead, the
exceptions being
criminals, victims of cholera and smallpox, people who have been
struck by lightning, and women who have died in childbirth, whose
corpses are buried. These exceptions are explained either by fear of
the fatal disease, or by fear of the phi (ghosts).
The cremation of a royal person (known as kara parama saba, kara
brah mem or thavay brah blo'n) differs from that of a noble or commoner
by reason of the extreme length and elaboration of all the ceremonies
connected with it; as well as by reason
of the fact that
whereas the cremation of the ordinary Siamese is almost entirely
Buddhist, the cremation of royalty is Buddhist superimposed on a
Hindu basis, and accompanied by the survival of much Brahmanical
ritual.
Siam it is usual to store the bodies of deceased princes and
In
princesses until a number are awaiting cremation, when the obsequies
are carried out with pomp and circumstance befitting their rank.
A kipg, however, is always honoured with a special cremation, the
1
Sources I know of few Siamese texts providing information
:
concerning the
Cremation. However, (1) H.R.H. Prince Damrong's Tdmnan susan hlvan vat debsi-
nndra (History of the Royal (Vernation Ground of Vat Debsirindra), Bangkok, 1927,
supplies some valuable facts; (2) Kathmay hetu nan brah meru gran krunkau (Treatise
on (Vernation Buildings in the Ayudhya period), an eighteenth
century MS. (published
by the Royal Institute in 1916), would be of greater value in a study of Siamese
architecture than in the present work ; (3) "
Siamese Customs for the Dying and
Dead," Bangkok Calendar, 1864, has an interesting account of cremation buildings
of the early reigns of the present
dynasty ; (4) Leclere's La Cremation et les Rites
Funeraires du Cambodge (Hanoi, 1906), has been of great assistance, in
especially
indicating certain rites which have now disappeared from the Siamese ceremony.
Perhaps my most important source of information has been (5) an official \*ho has been
intimately connected with the carrying out of royal cremations for many years, and
is extremely well versed in the
technique, but who prefers that his name should not
be divulged. (6)1 was fortunate in being in Bangkok on the occasions of the cremation
of the late H.R.H. Prince Asdang (heir presumptive, 1924), and of the late King
Rama VI (1926), and was able personally to observe the more public rites I was
also present as a guest at a number of
ordinary Siamese cremations.
137
magnificence of which greatly exceeds that of even the highest royal

prince. Very rarely a high dignitary of the Buddhist Church has
been accorded the honour of a royal cremation of a magnificence
equalling that of a king. For example, the Sdngharaja (Patriarch),
who died in 1822, at the age of 90,
" was
placed in a great gilded urn, an honour reserved for the king
and princes of high rank, and was cremated during the following
x
May, on the site for royal cremations."
A king was usually not cremated until many months after death
but in the case of the late King Rama VI the cremation, which on
no account could have taken place until after the hundredth day rite
had been performed, was carried out only four months after death.
This curtailment of the time devoted to lying-in-state was not the
only reduction made in the ceremonies. In fact, both the late King
and King Rama V, had given strict orders that their cremations were
to be on a smaller scale than had previously been thought necessary,
and they had in view the saving of trouble and expense. This being
the case, although I shall make the cremation of the late King Rama VI
the basis for study, I shall be obliged to complete the picture by
reference to the proceedings of earlier occasions.
There is one question which I feel sure has already arisen in the
mind of the reader, and that " "
is as to why I include Cremation
"
under the heading of Ceremonies of Installation ". This is a question
which cannot satisfactorily be answered at the present juncture, and
I must therefore crave patience until the latter part of the next
chapter. I must now proceed with the detailed description of the
ceremonies.
2. Ceremonies performed shortly before the dying King expires.

When it is seen that the condition of a king is very grave, he is,
ifpossible, removed to a special apartment in the Royal Residence
reserved for such occasions. King Rama VI died there, but his father
died in another palace, since he was too ill to be moved to the Grand
Palace. In the days of Old Siam certain Buddhist priests of high
standing were then charged with the duty of writing scriptural texts
in the Pali language on nine sheets of gold leaf shaped like sacred
Bodhi leaves, which were placed on the nine principal parts of the
body after death. This evidently corresponds to an ancient Vedic
"
rite in which the seven apertures of the body (nose, etc.) were
covered with gold pieces ". 2 The bed used to be draped with white
material, and paintings representing scenes in paradise were suspended
1 2
JSS., xxiv, Oct., 1930, pt. 1, p. 15. Barnett, Antiquities of India, p. 148.
a
o
p
-tj
M 3
o
S3
o
o
O
Cfl
W
>_i
w
to
o
s
o
o
CREMATION 139
in order to draw the dying man's attention away from earthly scenes
to a contemplation of the future beatified state. The king was
watched day and night by members of the royal family and ladies of
the palace, the latter preserving the utmost calm until the doctors had
pronounced life to be extinct, when they gave themselves up to loud
lamentations. I understand on good
authority that none of these
rites were performed at the death of the late King.
3. Bathing and adorning the Royal Corpse and placing it in the Urn.
As soon as the King had breathed his last, the royal princes
approached and placed him on his back, closing the eyelids and mouth,
and covering the body (brah parama saba) with a golden shroud, while
two candles were lighted. The princes then immediately gathered in
another room in order to confirm the new King's accession. This
pressing business of State had to be attended to without any delay,
since the welfare of the living is even more
important than that of
the dead. This meeting concluded, the royal
family assembled and
bathed the corpse with scented water, afterwards
placing it on a
beautiful gilded bed.
The next duty was to dress the body and prepare it for the Urn.
Silk drawers embroidered with gold, and a
cloth-of-gold pM-nuh
clothe the lower part of the body, above which is an embroidered vest
of yellow silk and an amice (sdhvian). Silken
gloves and socks are
also put on, gold plaques are
placed on chest and sides, and baldricks
studded with diamonds are crossed over the ches.t. There are
gold
shoes and epaulettes (chalohso), heavy gold bracelets, anklets, and
rings, and a golden mask (dohgit braJt bhaktra) covers the face, symbolic
of the radiant visage of a god. A pair of gilt candles, a lotus, and a
pair of gold horns containing areca nut wrapped in betel leaf are placed
in the hands, and a silken mala hat is set
upon the head (PL XX).
The corpse having been thus for half an hour, the Urns are
left
brought to the foot of the bed. The inner one (con iio'n) is of silver,
with a lid that can be hermetically sealed. The outer one
(brah kosa
don hyai) is of great magnificence, being of gold ornamented with
the nine gems and capped by a tapering pyramidal The height
spire.
of the inner Urn is about 1.20 metres, and the breadth at the widest
part 0.60 metres, while the height of the outer Urn to the top of the
spire is 3.00 metres. The outer Urn is octagonal in shape, and the
spire has the form of a mankut. It was used both for the Lying-in-
StatejDf King Rama VI and his father, King Rama V, and for all
Can Fa and princesses who have died in recent years.
princes
In former times it used to be the custom at this
stage in the
preparations to remove the mask from the face of the dead king and
pour a certain quantity of mercury down the throat with the object
of expediting the drying of the corpse. This process is still carried
out in Cambodia, but according to my informant, and contrary to
the common opinion amongst Europeans, this has not been done for
very many years in Siam. It is, however, still the custom to place a
gold ring in the mouth, which may be the equivalent of the coin that
any dead commoner. Graham states that
l
is placed in the mouth of
with the commonpeople this coin is intended to pay the toll at the
gates of paradise. If the gold ring truly corresponds to the coin it
can only be regarded as the survival of a very primitive idea, for such
an idea seems curiously incongruous in connection with the death of
a divine monarch.
"
The corpse is next invited (jon brah saba) to sit on a small camp-
tk
bed. The trunk is lifted, the palms joined opposite the face by means
of an iron clamp, a sort of wedge is placed under the chin, and the
knees are lifted to the level of the hands and tied in a sitting position.
The corpse, thus seated, is placed on sixteen long strips of cotton
material, the ends of which are raised and tied over the top of the
head. The new King then sets the late King's Personal Kathina Crown
upon the head of the corpse, and suspends a heavy gold chain studded
with diamonds around the neck. In this position the corpse is saluted
by all present, then lifted and placed in the inner Urn which in turn is
placed within the outer gold one. The term used to express the late
King now that he is seated within the Urn is brah cau yu hua nai
parama kosa.
It will be seenfrom the above account that the dead king is arrayed
in richer attire than he ever wore in his lifetime. That this funeral
state has preserved the splendid accoutrements which ancient kings
actually wore when they were alive we may be sure, for we see such
things on the reliefs ofAhkor and in the dress of the modern Siamese
dancers when impersonating kings and heroes. An interesting feature
in the preparation of the corpse is that the hands are joined in an
attitude of supplication. This is a late Buddhist modification, adopted
to show that the deceased monarch, be he regarded as Bodhisattva
or Hindu deity, pays homage to the Buddha.
The above ceremonies of preparation are all carried out by
members of the Royal Family in conjunction with officials of the Royal
Wardrobes Department. The Court Brahmans take no part in these
rites in Siam, though in Cambodia they still assist in the bathing of
the corpse.
1
Siam, i, 164.
CREMATION 141
4. Transfer to the Tusita Mahd Prasada, and ceremonies connected

with the Lying-in-State.
All the private ceremonies described above took place, in the
case of the late King Rama VI, on the day of his death, 25th November,
1926, and that same day the corpse within the Urns was transferred
to the Tusita Maha Prasada to lie in state. In Cambodia, according
to Leclere, the preliminary ceremonies were spread over several days,
and the brah can yu hua mzz parama kosa was kept in the royal residence
for two months, before being transferred to lie in state.
The procession from the Cakrabartibimnn to the Tusita Hall was
a short one, since it only had to traverse a few hundred yards through
the grounds of the Grand Palace. It consisted of the usual drummers
of victory, processional umbrella-bearers, gentlemen-at-arms, and
Brahmans playing ceremonial instruments. The great Urn was borne
on a gilded palanquin under an immense nine-tiered umbrella of State,
and accompanied by large single-tiered umbrella, fan, and sunshade.
Behind the palanquin walked King Prajadhipok, also shaded by an
umbrella, and accompanied by the princes. It was a small procession,
but it was impressive because it was personal, almost a family affair ;
and it took place in venerable surroundings, with an absence of that

display of modern militarism which, however great its sociological
value, always seems to strike a jarring note in every State Ceremony
where it is present.
In the western apse of the Tusita Maha Prasada stood the royal
catafalque, on which the Urn was to be placed in state. A special
inclined plane was used for placing the Urn in position both on the
catafalque and later on the pyre, the Urn being slowly drawn up by
means of pulleys, to the accompaniment of the blowing of conches
and the firing of guns. This undertaking was known as jo'n brah
saba khu'n brah den, i.e. inviting the corpse to be seated. It is a variation
of the taboo mentioned on page 36, concerning the King not being
supposed to touch the ground, the Urn seeming to glide up the plane
and take its position on the catafalque in a
god-like manner.
Urn on the catafalque until several weeks of the
I did not see the
Lying-in-State had passed by. It was on the occasion when the

Lord Chamberlain placed a silver wreath at the base of the catafalque
on behalf of the Kram Mahhatlek. The Urn, over which hung from
the ceiling a great nine-tiered white umbrella, presented an impressive
spectacle on the summit of the pyramidal catafalque (fhanven fa)
of graduated stages, decorated with flowers and candies, and illuminated
by means of electricity (PI. XXI). It is the opinion of Prince Damrong

that this catafalque is modelled on the shrine called Baksai Chamkrong
at Ankor Thorn. 1 Before it were placed offerings of food and flowers,

renewed daily, and to right and left were glass cases
containing the
late monarch's uniforms and personal possessions, while his decorations
were laid on cushions. At each of the four corners of the
catafalque
stood a sentinel, and the Urn was never for one instant left without
this military guard during the period of From the
Lying-in-State.
base of the Urn there depended on the east, north, and south sides a
long embroidered ribbon (brah bhiisdyon) about 6 inches wide. The
lower ends of each of these ribbons rested on a gold
tray at the base
of the catafalque. Their significance is in connection with the
Satagakarana rite, as will shortly be explained.
The daily ceremonies, carried out during the Lying-in-State were as
follows:
Day and night four Buddhist monks, who were relieved every
few hours, kept up an almost incessant chanting in a kind of choir-stall
some distance from the catafalque (PL XXTI). They ceased
only to
have a smoke and a cup of tea or to renew their quids of betel. At the
Lying-in-State of former monarchs they also ceased when the wailing
palace women came to lament before the Urn, to the accompaniment
of the blowing of conches. This
they used to do five times a day, each
period lasting about half an hour, but this rite was omitted in the
case of King Rama VI. The food which was
daily placed before the
late King's Urn was, so I was informed his chef, in accordance
by
with his favourite menus, and was served at his
customary mealtimes.
On certain days the Tusita Maha Prasada was open for the various
government departments and for the general public to pay their
respects before the Urn. Wreaths were placed by high officials and
members of the Diplomatic Corps at the base of the
catafalque, and
every Siamese present crawled up to a position in front of the catafalque
and about 20 feet from it, and saluted in the traditional manner
by lowering the head and raising the joined palms three times, then
crawling away. The utmost awe was noticeable in the behaviour of
the officials in the presence of the Urn. None would have
thought
of standing while paying his respects, and thus we see the old custom
of prostration surviving in the
presence of the dead King long after
ithas disappeared in the presence of the
living one.
From the day of King Rama VI's death until some time after the
actual cremation, the whole nation was in
mourning. The mourning
colour in Siam is white but officials of high rank also wear a gold
;
sash. Up to the fourth reign it was compulsory for every Siamese,

male and female, to shave the head during the
period of mourning.
The only exceptions were in favour of the new King and princes
1
Tamnan Susan hlvaft, p. 2, n. 1.
PLATE XXI,
[Photo ;
Xnrasutyli Stwfio.
THE LYING-IN-STATE IN -THE TIISITA PRASADA.
[To face- page U2,

L'LATB XXII.
1 Photo : Ntt whin/I Mntlin
MONKS CHANTING DUKING THK LYING-IN-STATE.

CREMATION 143
older than the deceased monarch, but this custom has now been
completely abolished. The Coronation of King Prajadhipok took

place during the period of mourning, and this led to the strange
procedure of suspending the mourning regulations for a time, so that
the people might duly celebrate the Coronation, but the ceremonies
around the Urn continued as usual.
On certain days during the four months of the Lying-in-State, there
were special religious services in the Tusita Hall. Of greatest
importance were the seventh, and hundredth day rites, the
fiftieth,
latter being the earliest day which
after Cremation of a royal person
can be performed. Then there were special services on the Van Brah,
or Buddhist Sabbaths, i.e. the eighth day of the
waxing moon, the full
moon, and the eighth and fifteenth days of the waning. There were
also special services on the 23rd February, the
day before cremation,
and on the 24th, in the morning, immediately before removal from
the Tusita Maha Prasada.
The King visited the Tusita Hall every day up to the hundredth day
princes. On these visits he
after which his place was taken by other
litcandles in front of the image of the Buddha on the altar at the
east end of the Hall,and then lit candles in front of the Urn. On the
special days a high dignitary of the Church and a chapter of thirty
Lords Abbot chanted stanzas suitable for the occasion, usually from
the Abhidharma. The King then laid down cloths and robes for the
Ratagakamna Kite, in which the monks chant the gansakula verse 1

and hold the ends of the pendant ribbons above mentioned, thereby
transferring to the robes offered by the King the special merits supposed
to belong to cloths found in graveyards, which merit accrues to the
deceased king.
On the special days above mentioned, Chinese and Annamite
monks performed their customary obsequial rites in the courtyard
adjoining the Tusita Hall, where a number of altars had been erected
for them. In front of these altars were a number of models of various
kinds, houses, torpedo-boats, figures of persons attired in
boats,
various costumes, all beautifully made down to the smallest detail,
but only of paper. Following the Cremation they were burnt near to
the water's edge, in accordance with the old Chinese funeral custom,
which is founded on the idea that such models have their spiritual
counterparts, and that such will be of use to the departed spirit in the
next world. As now performed in Siam, these foreign rites merely
reveal the desire of the Chinese and Annamite communities to
identify
1
I have not seen the Siamese pahsakula verse, but a Siamese to whom I showed
the one used in Ceylon and quoted on p. 158, states that it is the same.
themselves with the general display of mourning for the loss of the
monarch under whose protection they have dwelt, just as the Christian
Churches also hold memorial services. But the custom is an ancient
one in Siam, and I suggest that it was fostered to enhance the dignity
of the monarchy in the eyes of the common people, even to persuade
them that China and Annam were tributary States.
During the course of the Lying-in-State certain rites in connection
with the urned remains were carried out. The base of the inner Urn
is in the form of an iron grating, and from the outer Urn a copper
tube passed down into the hollow catafalque where the depositions
accumulated in a golden vase. Access to the interior of the catafalque
was obtained by means of a small door on the western face, and each
alternate day until the corpse was dry and no further liquids dripped
from the tube, that is to say until about two months after death, an
attendant entered and removed the vase. This was then borne in
procession to Vat Mahadhatu where, ever since its foundation in the
first reign, the sanies of kings and princes of high rank have been
burned. They are first poured into a wide metal tray and covered
with dry sugar cane and incense which absorbs them. The resulting
compound is then burned and the ashes are kept to be mixed with those
resulting from the cremation of the paranmsaba, to be disposed of as will
later be described. After the sanies have ceased to drip from the
Urn, flowers and odoriferous woods are placed within the catafalque.
During the Lying-in-State the sacred fire, to be used at the crema-
tion, is kept burning on an altar in the Tusita Hall in a lamp which
is watched with great care. It was formerly the custom to preserve
the fire from any building that had been struck by lightning. Thus :
"
In the reign of P'ooti Yawt Fa (Rama I), grandfather of his
resent Majesty (Rama IV), the royal audience hall was destroyed
E y lightning. It is commonly believed that the fire taken from that
conflagration, has been kept constantly burning in the palace, and
l
is used on occasions like the above."
Nowadays the sacred fire, like that which is used to light the
Candle of Victory, is obtained from the sun by means of a burning-
glass, and hence is ceremonially pure.
5. The Funeral Pyre.

Soon after the death of the late King, work began on the construc-
tion of the funeral pyre, called Brah Mem
because it symbolizes Mount
Meru, the home of Visnu and Indra (PI. XXIII). This great building was
erected on the Royal Cremation Ground, a wide, grassy expanse near the
1
Bangkok Calendar, 1864, p. 65.
PLATE XXIII.
: Nnramnffh .
THE FUNERAL PYRE (BRAir MKRU) OF KING RAMA VI.
To face 145. J
CREMATION 145
Grand Palace, which is also used for kite-flying and other sports when
not required for Royal Cremations. The size and elaboration of the
Brah Meru has been much reduced since the cremation of King
Rama IV in fact, this is the feature which has suffered more than
;
any other, as a result of the prevailing desire to economize. The

expenditure in the case of the pyre used for the cremation of Rama VI
is said to have been only one-eighth of that lavished on the previous
King's Meru.
The great expenditure on this structure is largely necessitated by
reason of the fact that all the materials must be new, and can never
be used again for a like purpose. Formerly, at least, the timber could
only be given to the monks for the repair of their monasteries but ;
the fate of the materials used in certain recent princely cremations

is better left unrecorded.
The Meru, which was illuminated by a multitude of electric lamps
at night, stood in the centre of a square space of about an acre in
extent, enclosed by a lattice rdjavdt fence, which was decorated at
intervals with tiered umbrellas. Against this fence, on the inner side,
were built galleries and pavilions for the accommodation of monks,
nobles, and officials, and with a most splendidly decorated pavilion for
King Prajadhipok. Until the reign of King Rama V the animal
effigies which used to take part in the procession were also housed in
these galleries. At each of the four corners were towers, formerly
elevated high above the ground, but at King Rama VI's cremation
built at ground level. Each tower was for the accommodation of a
party of four monks, frequently relieved by others, who chanted

verses from the Buddhist scriptures on the Day of Cremation. Access
to the interior of the enclosure was obtained by means of four gate-
ways, one in the middle of each side. The Brah Meru erected in the
centre was, in former reigns, an enormous structure, the skeleton
consisting of four immense teak trunks, from 200 to 250 feet long,
and each with a circumference of about 12 feet. These logs were
obtained by royal order from four different provinces in the North,
and were selected from virgin jungle. They were embedded in the
ground 30 feet deep, their bases forming a square, and the trunks
were made to lean slightly together to form a truncated pyramid.
At the top they were joined by a roof upon which was erected a gilded
grcisdda spire. The late King's Meru was erected in this manner,
but the tip of the grdsdda spire was only about 150 feet above the
ground. It was, however, very graceful, and the architects had shown
great ingenuity in fashioning the upper part t6 represent the four
faces of Brahma, above which tapered the mankut-like spire crowned
by the late King's crest,which in turn was surmounted by a small

tiered umbrella. Under the
lofty roof of the great teak pyramid was
built a floor at about 20 feet from the ground, which was reached by
four terraced flights of steps, one of which was reserved for the King.
The stairs and terraces were ornamented with tiered umbrellas and
devatd figures holding large sunshades. On the floor of the Meru was
erected the brah penca, or Pyre Proper, an octagonal pyramid
diminishing by right-angled gradations, and terminating in a truncated

top. The one used for the late King's Cremation was made of iron with
gilt overlay. High abovehung a beautifully embroidered white
it
umbrella of nine tiers, while the red and gold teak pillars were draped
with heavy cloth of gold curtains, and each of the four sides of the
open pyramid formed by these pillars was fitted with doors, on which
conventional designs of birds and mythical figures were worked in
silk. But one no longer saw the interesting painted scenes of heaven
and hell, and the pictures illustrating life in the Siamese dependencies
which used to ornament the walls of cremation buildings, nor the
artificial lakes, hills, and houses that were in former reigns built
around the Meru to give the semblance of Indra's paradise. 1

In Old Siam a large part of the Cremation Ground, outside the
square enclosure, was dotted with temporary buildings of many
kinds, and their abolition, and that of the customs with which they
were connected, has struck one of the greatest blows at the traditional
Royal Cremation. Outside the enclosure and near the middle of each
of the four walls was a platform on which was placed an artificial
tree, the branches of which were heavily loaded with green and
yellow limes. There was also a brilliantly decorated royal pavilion.

Here the King stood on the Day of Cremation, and distributed wooden
limes from a golden bowl to the nobles and high officials around him,
while officials appointed for the purpose stood on the platforms and
scattered the limes from the artificial trees amongst the eager people
massed below. These trees represented the Pdrijdta or Kdlpavrksa
Tree of Indra's paradise or, according to the Buddhist interpretation,
the four trees that will be found one in each of the four corners of the
city in which the next Buddha is to be born, and which will bear not
only money but everything else that man will need for his comfort
under the coming Buddha's reign. Each wooden lime contained
either a coin or a promissory note of a certain specified value, such as
1
Although in most of the cremations of commoners that I have witnessed, th&
Meru consisted of a simple canopy erected on four posts over a pyre, on one occasion
at Labapuri I saw a very interesting artificial mountain about 20 feet high from
the side of which issued a figure of Indra mounted on his elephant. It was a definite
attempt to represent the traditional Meru.
CREMATION 147
a boat, house, or garden, which when presented to the

treasury were
regularly paid. On the occasion of the late King's Cremation this
distribution of limes was carried out on a very small scale only and
on the day of the collection of the relics.
Other buildings were a large refreshment hall where all except the
lowest classes could obtain food and drinks without charge stands
;
for the letting off of fireworks; and a great variety of theatrical

entertainments and other side-shows. With the exception of the
refreshment hall,
all these were abolished in accordance with the wish
of King Kama
V, who considered that such celebrations did not
harmonize with the dignity which ought to characterize the royal
obsequies. But this interference with tradition seems to me to be a
mistake such entertainments are highly appreciated by the people,
;
and even commoners, unless very poor, do their best to provide at their
cremations at least one theatrical performance, or nowadays a cinema.
Such a reduction in the grandeur of the royal obsequies cannot fail
to decrease the popularity of a Royal Cremation, and, what is more,
decrease its impressiveness and sociological value.
6. Transfer in Procession of the Urn from the Tusita Mahd Prdsdda

to the Brah Mem.
On the morning of the Day of Cremation, and immediately after
the last Buddhist service, the Urn was lifted down from the catafalque.
During this process, and throughout the following rites, the mournful
music of the Brahmans was played unceasingly. The outer Urn was
removed, and the inner one was opened. The King removed the crown
from the head of the paramasaba and placed it on a small table. Then
the corpse was removed from the Urn and placed on a bed covered with
a white mat. Next all the gold ornaments and attire were taken off.
Only the bones remained, and these, if they fell to pieces, were
rearranged in the form of a human skeleton. The King, the Patriarch,
and the nobles poured cocoa-nut water over the bones, which were then
tied up in white cloth and replaced in the inner Urn.
In the case of the cremation of King Rama VI, as soon as the
above ceremonies had been completed, the inner Urn
containing the
remains was carried out of the Tusita Hall and placed on a
palanquin,
the outer Urn
being then replaced. Thus the paramasaba was borne
on the palanquin the short distance separating the Grand Palace from
the neighbouring monastery, Vat Jetavana. It was an intimate
personal procession, and has been well described as a family farewell

to the Royal Remains which were leaving their home for the last
time. Apart from a few ceremonial attendants and guards, only the
King and the royal princes down to the rank of Brah Anga Cau followed
the palanquin on foot, and the route was lined only by the servants
of the palace, all attired in white.
When this procession reached the main road leading to the
Cremation Ground, it met the Grand Funeral Procession already drawn
up, and the Urn was transferred by means of the inclined plane
to the
Great Funeral Car (PL XXIV). Thenceforward the route was lined
by almost the entire population of Bangkok, and large numbers of
people who had come from outlying districts to pay their last respects
to the late King.
The Grand Funeral Procession was composed of the following
elements, and in the order below detailed :
TERRITORIALS, BOY SCOUTS, AND TROOPS
Many units representative of all arms, with modern equipment, which

need not be mentioned in detail.
THE ROYAL FUNERAL PARTY

Two three-tailed Flags
Four metal Drums
160 Red Drums of Victory
Twenty Silver Drums of Victory
Twenty Gold Drums of Victory
Two Headmen of the Pipe
Two Headmen of the War Drum
Twenty Blowers of the Foreign Bugle
Twenty-eight Blowers of the Siamese Bugle (horn-shaped)
Four Blowers of Conch Shells
Two Inspectors of the Bugle
Two seven- tiered Umbrellas, six five-tiered, and four Sunshades
Three Sword Bearers
One Bearer of the Priest's Fan of Honour
Royal Car with the Prince Patriarch reading the Scriptures

Four Sword Bearers
One Royal Umbrella
One Large Sunshade
One Royal Fan ^
S Eight Representatives of Indra with lances 5T
<3 |g Eight Representatives of Brahma with lances S,
ts P Eight pairs of Civilian Guards (high officials of the Ministry of Justice) g

g 5? Two seven-tiered Umbrellas, four five-tiered, and two Sunshades 17 3-
| |
Two Sword Bearers e[ A.
^ P5 Two seven-tiered Umbrellas, fourteen five-tiered, and twelve Sunshades o

^? O
Six Sword Bearers
^ |
The Great Funeral Car bearing the Urn, and two officials dressed as W a
^ drawn by a hundred Army Men and a hundred Navy Men,
", 3 devata ; '^ J3
."
and with six Horses yoked to it. IJ ?
J3 o gj P
One Royal Umbrella
g :
^'
p>
jg One Large Sunshade g
S One Royal Fan
PLATK XXIV,
THK URN BEING TBANSPEBRKD TO THE GBEAT

FUNERAL CAR.
\Ti) jttt'c jMfii' 148.

PLATE XXV,
A Ho VTA L FUNERAL PROFESSION.

CREMATION 149
Sixteen Representatives of Indra and Brahma, bearing silver and

gold ornamental Trees (bhum tdk mai iio'n dbn)
Two seven-tiered Umbrellas, ten five-tiered, and eight Sunshades
Two Palace Officials with personal effects
Four Sword Bearers
Sixteen Pages with spears
Sixteen Pages with flowers
Four Chargers with eighteen men in attendance
KING PRAJADHIPOK'S PARTY
Eight Royal Lictors in two lines (bearing peacock feathers instead of rattans)
Monkey Standard Garuda Standard
The King, walking
Royal Umbrella
Ten Aides-de-Camp
i 1*
Princes of the Royal House down to Hmbm Caus of ban ddn (golden bowl)
rank
Special Representatives of Foreign Sovereigns and States
Foreign Representatives and Ministers
Officials of Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Officials of Ministry of Royal Household
High Officials of other Ministries
Pupils of the Schools under the Royal Patronage

Two Battalions of the 1st Infantry Guards Regiment
Navy Band
Navy Men
The greater part of this long procession calls for no particular

comments, since it is mostly composed of those bearers of ceremonial
insignia of which enough has already been said in the chapter dealing
with Coronation. The procession is on a very grand scale, due to the
desire to pay the highest respect to the deceased monarch. But really
the difference between the Coronation and the Cremation processions
is rather one of degree and arrangement than of kind. It is to be noted
that the Brahman blowers of the conch wear pointed hats from
beneath which their long hair streams loose as a sign of mourning.
This is the most important part that they now play in the Cremation
ceremonies.
The features of greatest interest are the Cars of the Patriarch and
of the Urn. These great vehicles, running on four wheels, are built
up like a series of massive carved and gilded barges, but very short
and broad, and seemingly superimposed in graduated sizes. At
Ankor there were wheeled cars in the classical period, which Groslier
thinks were drawn by men and used for funeral purposes. 1 If the
modern Siamese Car was derived from that of Cambodia, it has
greatly changed, and the boat-shaped build, the graceful brah-di-ndh
and tall spire, instead of the rectangular pavilion and prang-like tower
1
Gr., p. 101 and fig. 63, b.
of the ancient Khmer

car, seem to betoken that Burmese, or rather
M6n, influence, which has already been noticed in the case of the
royal barges.
Unfortunately, several of the most remarkable features of the
traditional Royal Cremation Procession must be spoken of as belonging
to the past, since they have been omitted in recent times. These
are as follows :
(1) It was the custom, until the Cremation of the late King, for two
young princes to ride on a Car between the Patriarch's Car and that
bearing the Urn. A strip of silver cloth, 6 inches wide, was attached
to the thighs of the Patriarch, whence it passed back to the princes
in the second Car, and finally back to the Urn to which it was attached
(PL XXV). One of the two young princes held the ribbon, and the
other scattered roasted grains. This ribbon formed the mystic connec-
tion between the Book, the Royal Family, and the Urn, in the same
way that a similar ribbon gave mystic connection between the Urn
and the monks, during the Lying-in-State. When the Urn had been
transferred to the Brah Meru, the silver ribbon was extended over the
Urn, down the eastern and western sides of the brah pencd, and thence
on a Brussels carpet, protected by white muslin, nearly to the flight
of steps on the east and west sides of the building. This ribbon was
stretched between the Cars in the Cremation procession of King
Rama V, and even in that of the Queen Mother who died in 1922 ;
if its omission at the late King's Cremation was due to the fact that
he had no sons, perhaps we may hope for its restoration at some

future time.
(2) The effigy of a rhinoceros took part in the procession, carrying
'
a small pavilion on its back in which was the sacred fire (Fig. 1 ). It is
interesting to note that a rhinoceros is figured in the reliefs of Aiikor
1
Vat, though what its function was is not known. The sacred fire
was apparently then carried on a palanquin, and such sacred fire
processions are depicted on the reliefs at Bayon, Ankor, and Banteai
Chhma. 2
(3) After the rhinoceros there used to follow a host of more than
sixty effigies of mythical animals, representing the denizens of the

Himaphan or Himalayan fairyland. A
complete list of them is given
in the appendix to this chapter, and it will be seen that the names
of some of them indicate Chinese origin, which is also borne out by
their appearance. But many of them, especially the more human
ones, are derived from India, and preserve the characteristics of
Siamese styles of the Ayudhya period. These effigies were drawn along
1 2
A., iii, p. 237. A., ii, p. 340, iii, pp. 168 and 261.
"
FIG. 1. THE RHINOCEROS ", BEAKER OF THE
SACRED FIRE.
[To face paqe 150.

CREMATION 151
in the procession on small wheels, and in small shrines on their backs

they bore the King's offerings to religion. Their significance seems to
be in connection with the Buddhist idea of every living creature from
every plane of existence coming to worship at the feet of the Buddha ;
but they also have an earlier Hindu significance as we saw in connection

with the Tonsure where they came to witness the initiation of Ganesa.
The rhinoceros and all the rest of the strange company were abolished
by King Rama V but they still survive ab Cremations in Cambodia.
;
To return to the proceedings at the Cremation of Rama VI When :
the great procession arrived at the Cremation Ground, the troops

formed up in serried ranks facing each side of the Brah Meru enclosure,
and the Great Funeral Car was halted at the northern entrance. Then
the Urn was transferred to a gun-carriage (this is a modern substitute
for a palanquin), and the King made the
gesture of personally receiving
the Urn thereon, the process being accompanied by the blowing of
conches. Then followed the traditional circumambulation of the Urn
around the Brah Meru within the enclosure. This is, of course, the
Hindu prasavya circumambulation performed on inauspicious occasions
with the left shoulder turned to the object in the centre. The process
is known in Siamese as uttaravatra.
The procession which thus three times circumambulated the Meru
was necessarily a small one. First came the Prince Patriarch, carried
on a palanquin, then the gun-carriage with the Urn, followed by the
King and the princes walking. At the base of the Urn were wreathed
the Siamese colours, at the front rested on a golden bowl the late
King's Field Marshal's helmet, while behind was his Admiral's cocked
hat. A rope of fresh flowers was placed round the foot of the Urn,
and before it was carried the late
King's personal flag draped with
mauve ribbons of mourning. The gun-carriage was drawn by men
of the Royal Palace Guards, accompanied by the usual insignia of
rank, and shielded by a state umbrella, while during the circumambula-
tion the ceremonial instruments were sounded.
The gun-carriage came to a halt at the eastern stairway leading up
to the Meru, while the King
proceeded to a throne facing the western
entrance, so that he could supervise the placing of the Urn on the
Pyre. All the other units of the procession now retired, leaving only
the gun-carriage, surrounded by the scarlet-clad drummers and conch
blowers who sounded their instruments ceaselessly while the inner
Urn, the outer one having been removed, was hoisted up by means
on to the brah penca. The late King's insignia
of the inclined plane
having been placed before the Urn, the gilt doors of the Meru were
opened and the King ascended the steep staircase on the western side.
Lighting the candles before the Urn, the King knelt and did homage
to the remains of his brother by raising the joined palms three times
in the traditional manner. He then left at once for the Grand Palace
by motor This was at about 11 a.m., and the final rites, which will
car.
be described in the next section, began at 4 p.m.
7. The Final Rites.
It was formerly the case for the Urn to remain in stateon the Brah
Mem for about fifteen days before the date of actual Cremation, which
date was fixed by the Brahyd Hora. Prior to these fifteen days, sacred
relicswere placed on the Pyre while the monks in the prayer towers,
as well as large numbers in other parts of the enclosure, continued their
chanting and the women their wailing until the Day of Cremation.
But in the case of the late King, the remains were cremated the same
day as the Urn was transferred to the Pyre.
The period from about 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. after the Urn had been
placed in position, and before the final rites began, was left free for all
such members of the public as were suitably dressed in mourning to
enter the enclosure and pay homage with joined hands at the base
of the Mem.
It to remove the Urn from the Meru on
was formerly the custom
"
the Day Cremation to a neighbouring building, called the pavilion
of
of perfumes ", where the long parcel of bones wrapped in the white
shroud was removed from the Urn and laid on a white mat, to receive
a last anointment with perfumed water by the King. In the case
of the Cremation of King Rama VI, since the remains had already
been washed and anointed that day, they were not taken down from
the Mem, but the inner Urn (the outer one having already been
removed) was replaced by one of sandal-wood decorated with silver
flowers. This operation took place while the public homage was in
progress, as also did the preparation of the pyre. Fragrant wood was
aid in order in cross layers on the platform, and a bellows was attached
to the pile. Precious spices were laid amongst the wood, and green
banana logs were laid round the pile to prevent the fire from spreading
too far and endangering the structure of the Meru. Men armed with
water ladles were also stationed in readiness.
When the King and Queen arrived in state palanquins in the
afternoon, they took up their position in the royal pavilion facing the
western side of the Meru. The Prince Patriarch preached a sermon,
and fifty Lords Abbot chanted stanzas from the scriptures, the
customary distribution of gifts to the officiating monks then taking

CREMATION 153
place. The King and Queen then ascended the long stairway to
apply the sacredfire. It was sunset and the masses of people stood in
solemn silence. The King lit the sprays of sandal wood from the lamp
containing the sacred fire and applied it to the pile which was kept
alight by attendants, but not allowed to spread to the Urn at this
time. 1 This was the supreme moment, and the first red flames were
greeted by the roar of cannon, a fanfare of trumpets, and the playing
of the National Anthem. The King and Queen knelt in final farewell
before the pyre it was an impressive moment, and must have struck
;
deeply into the hearts of the multitude, a moment which few who were
present will ever forget.
Rising from their knees, the King and Queen stood and faced the
Urn for a few moments before retiring to their thrones. Princes and
princesses, the former by the northern and the latter by the southern
staircase,then ascended and added their offerings of lighted candles
and sandal -wood to the fire which was still kept within small compass,
and not yet allowed to spread to the Urn. Thereafter the King and
Queen returned to the Palace by state palanquins, but the stream of
nobles and officials continued to pay homage at the Meru until it was
quite dark, and long after that the awed populace continued to sit
and gaze at the illuminated spire.
The rite of offering sandal-wood and candles at the Pyre which
has been referred to in the last paragraph as a homage has really,
according to Prince Damrong, a deeper significance which is understood
by few Siamese. The underlying idea is that in placing these offerings
on the Pyre the giver asks forgiveness for any wrong that he may have
done the deceased during his lifetime. Originally a person whose
conscience was quite clear had no need to perform this rite.
The Actual Cremation took place at 10 o'clock at night, behind the
drawn curtains of the Meru, the fire not having been allowed to die
out since the time it was applied by the King. The flaming pile was
carefully watched throughout the night by the attendants, who stirred
it with pokers and saw that none of the bones
escaped the fire. In
the morning only a thin wisp of smoke remained, and consecrated
water was poured on the hot cinders, in analogy to the miraculous
shower of rain that extinguished the pyre of the Buddha. Then more
water was thrown on the ashes from the four jars which stood one at
each corner of the brah penca, possibly symbolizing the earthly water
that was brought by the faithful Mallas and thrown on the pyre of
1
This is the procedure in the case of a king's cremation. Jn the case of tho
cremation of any other royal person, the King ignites the pile by means of a train of
gunpowder without moving from his pavilion.
154: SIAMESE STATE CEREMONIES
the Buddha after it had been extinguished by the celestial
shower. 1
The ashes were then given roughly the form of a human figure
with the head turned towards the east. They were then stirred up
and reformed with the head turned towards the west. Finally the
process was repeated with the head turned towards the east. This is
evidently symbolic of the rising, setting, and again rising of the sun
and rebirth. A satagakamna rite was then performed by
birth, death,
themonks in attendance, and the gifts of robes and food which the
King had made to the monks during the Cremation ceremonies, were
circumambulated three times around the Meru, prasavaya-wise
(PI. XXVI). While they thus circumambulated, the guards and
"
insignia-bearers kept constantly crying Hoo hoo ". One might ! !
suppose that this was to keep off evil spirits, but Prince Damrong
is of opinion that it is a relic of the far distant days when Buddhist
cremations used to take place in deep jungle, and the cry served
to prevent those who followed behind from losing their way.
Not until the above rites had been completed did the search for
relics begin, in which the King and Queen, the princes and princesses,
and the ladies of the palace took part. The little fragments of burnt
bone relics (dsthi) were placed on a plate on a stand. In former
reigns the King used to place some of them each in a gold locket, and
hand them to the children of the deceased monarch, who kept them
until their deaths, after which they were usually enshrined in a stupa.
This division of the relics is quite in accordance with Buddhist tradition
but was not carried out at the late King's cremation, since he had no
children except his baby daughter. The remainder of the relics (all,
in the case of King Kama VI) were then perfumed and placed in a small
golden urn, similar in appearance to the Great Urn, but only 50 centi-
metres high. They were then carried in state to the Grand Palace where
they are kept, but are brought out on certain occasions to be honoured
by the reigning King. The ashes (angdra) (PI. XXVII), fragments
of burnt wood, together with the ashes previously produced at
etc.,
the burning of the sanies, of the first three kings of the dynasty are
enshrined in Vat Brah Jetavana, those of Rama IV are at Vat Pavara-
nivesa, those of King Kama V at Vat Pencamapabitra, while those of
the late King Rama VI are partly enshrined at Vat Pavaranivesa,
and partly in the great stupa at Nagara Pat hama. In the Ayudhya
period the ashes used to be tied up in white cotton cloth, then placed
in a white bag embroidered with gold, and taken in a royal barge to
be jettisoned in mid-river.
1
Mahn-Farinibbana Sutta, vi,' 49, 8 BE., xi, p. 130.
#
THE OF TKE TWITE QlTKIQl^ MOTHER IN

CHAPTER XII
CREMATION (continued)
HISTORY AND FUNCTION
1. The History of the Siamese Royal Cremation.

The Siamese Royal Cremation as it is, or rather as it was before
it had been corrupted by the innovations and abolitions of the last
fifty years, is undoubtedly a close copy of the Ayudhya form. So far

as the buildings of the Brah Meru are concerned, we know from the
eighteenth century MS. already mentioned that the royal architects
of Bangkok have closely followed the Ayudhya model, and the
Annals of Ayudhya give the following interesting account of a royal
cremation :
"
His Majesty gave directions, that all necessary and suitable
preparations he made for the cremation of the remains of H.M. the
late King. The main building, which was to contain the urned remains,
terminated in a spire and was 2 sen 11 wahs high. Similar but
smaller buildings at the four points of the compass, and interspersed
around the square enclosure, which was set apart as the cremation
lot, were decorated with gold, pinchbeck, silver, arid other chats
(umbrellas), and flags and other streamers and endless ornaments.
The urned remains were placed in the gorgeous and beautiful car,
and were escorted by a solemn procession of the magnates of the
kingdom to the cremation buildings. The usual amusements, day
and night religious ceremonies, plays, and theatrical performances
;
were kept up for days, and the usual presents were made as at the
cremation of all the kings of Siam. At the appointed day the torch
was applied and the remains were reduced to ashes, and the usual
ceremonies for preserving a few relics of the charred bones were
observed/' l
The seventeenth century European writers give but scanty details.

La Loubere 2
mentions the use of mercury to drain the body, the large
size of the pyres, the processions of mythical animal effigies, and the
ignition of the pyre by the King, in the case of royal cremations,

"
without stirring out of his palace. He lets go a lighted torch along
a rope, which is extended from one of the windows of the palace to
the pile." Evidently the use of a train of gunpowder was not then
3 more
understood. J. Struys describes a funeral of a princess in
1
Reign of King ârai[i.e.Narayana], translated by S. J. Smith, Bangkok, 1880.
2
L. L., pp. 124 sq.
3
Eng. ed., 1684, chap. vm.
detailthan any other old writer the Urn was borne to the Meru in
:
procession on a car. A silk band passed from this to the car in which
" "
the princes rode. Oranges containing money were thrown to
the people. The pyre was lighted by the King himself, accompanied
by doleful music. The oldest account by a European writer is that
of Mendez Pinto, 1 who refers to events of the year 1545, but
unfortunately the cremation ceremonies he describes are quite
un-Siamese and unworthy of credence.
The above evidence is sufficient to show that in
every feature of
importance the seventeenth century Koyal Cremation was the same as
it is to-day. We know that there were no violent cultural changes
during the four centuries of the Ayudhya period, and it was therefore
about the fourteenth century that the Cremation took on its traditional
Siamese form, as a result of the conversion of the Thai to Hmayanism
in the period when Sukhodaya was capital. Then Cambodia was also
converted, but has retained to this day many Brahmanical features
which have disappeared from Siam. This fact, coupled with the fact
that the cult of the Deva-raja was the principal royal religion up to
the thirteenth century, even when Mahay anism was practised, can
leave little doubt that the Koyal Cremation in ancient Cambodia was
entirely Brahmanical.
We will first endeavour to pick out those features in the Siamese
Royal Cremation that can definitely be traced to the Hmayana
Buddhism introduced in the thirteenth century. Not all Buddhists
practice cremation the Burmese mostly bury their dead. But in
;
preferring cremation, which is a method more in accordance with the

Buddhist idea of the impermanence of matter, the Siamese are also
adhering to the rules laid down by the Buddha himself. It was in
response to the repeated request by Ananda for information that the
Buddha is said to have explained that His remains should be
treated as was the custom with those of a Cakravartin, or
Universal Emperor :
"
They wrap the body of the king of kings, Ananda. in a new
cloth. When that is done they wrap it in carded cotton wool. When
that is done they wrap it in a new cloth and so on till they have wrapped
the body in five hundred successive layers of both kinds. They then
place the body in an oil vessel of iron, and cover that close up with
another oil vessel of iron. Then they build a funeral pile of all
kinds of perfumes, and burn the body of the
king of kings. And
then at the four cross roads they erect a ddgaba to the king of kings." *
Similar rites came to be accepted as the model for the cremation

1
Eng. ed., 1663, chap, xlviii.
2
Maha-Parinibbana Sutta, v. 26, SBE., vol. xi, pp. 92 sq.
CREMATION 157
of Buddhist kings and distinguished monks in Ceylon. Thus

King Uttiya
"
caused the dead body of the them to be laid forthwith in a golden
chest sprinkled with fragrant oil, and the well-closed chest to be laid
upon a golden, adorned bier and when he had caused it then to be
;
lifted upon the bier, commanding solemn ceremonies, he caused it

to be escorted by a great levy of troops commanding due offerings
:
(he caused it to be escorted) on the adorned street to the variously

adorned capital and brought through the city in procession by the
royal highway to the Mahavihara. When the monarch had caused
the bier to be placed here for a week in the Panhambamalaka with
triumphal arches, pennons and flowers, and with vases filled with
perfumes the vihara was adorned with a circle of three yojanas around,
by the king's decree, but the whole island was adorned in like manner
by the decree of the devas and when the monarch had commanded
divers offerings throughout the week he built up, turned towards the
east in the Theranarhbandhamalaka, a funeral pyre of sweet-smelling
wood, leaving the (place of the later) Great thupa on the right, and when
he had brought the beautiful bier thither and caused it to be set
upon the pyre he carried out the rites of the dead. And here did he
build a cetiya when he had caused the relics to be gathered together.
Taking the half of the relics the monarch caused thupas to be built
on the CWya-mountain and in all the viharas. The place where the
burial of this sage's body had taken place is called, to do him honour,
l
Isibhumaiigana."
But Przyluski has shown 2 that in fact the cremation of the

Buddha followed the simple customs usual for monks in those early
times, and the idea of the Buddha having been cremated with the
rites due to a Cakravartin is late. Almost all the rites described in
the Mahd-Parinibbana Sutta and other Buddhist texts refer to the
Brahmanic ritual in use at the cremation of emperors. For example,
the weeping of women, the multiplication of the wrappings of the
corpse, the mention of an elaborate funeral procession (cf. that of
Kavara, in Ramayana, vi, iii), the use of perfumes and sandal-wood, a
characteristic of royal cremations in the Epics, and the sprinkling of
the pyre with milk or latex (cf. the use of cocoa-nut water in Siam),
are all characteristic of the ritual in use at the cremations of
Cakravartins. On
the other hand, the usual washing of the corpse is
omitted, because the Buddha was considered to be perfectly pure.
This tradition was preserved in Ceylon, and the Siamese kings of
the Sukhodaya period no doubt imitated the ritual favoured by the
Buddhist kings of Ceylon, but, since the early Siamese kings were
imbued with the Khmer cult of the Deva-raja, the Hindu-Buddhist
1
M., xx, 34-46.
J. Przyluski, "Le Parinirvana et les Funerailles du Buddha," Premiere Partic,
2
Extrait du Journal Asiatique, 1918-20.

rites ofCeylon were grafted onto a very evident substratum of Khmer

Brahmanism. Indeed, in the Siamese Royal Cremation to-day, we
can distinguish only three important Buddhist features (1) the :
presence of large numbers of officiating monks, (2) their continuous

chanting or preaching, (3) the Satagakarana rite.
As to the Sata-pakarana rite, the following note shows it to be still
practised in Ceylon, and there can be no doubt that it was introduced

into Siam from that source :
" The cloth which covers is removed and presented to

(the body)
the priest, who says :
Aniccd vata sankhdrd,

Uppddavayadhammino ,
Uppajjitvd mrujjhanti
Tessam vupasamo suhho.
Assuredly all that are born

Decay and pass away,
They are born and they cease to exist,
Their rest is happiness.
The priest departs, taking with him the cloth." *
Cremation was not an invention of Buddhism ;

it was known
in Vedic although burial was certainly the earlier form.
India,
Rig-Veda, x, 18, which deals primarily with burial, also contains
verses which were adapted for cremation and the collection of the
relics. Up to modern times the remains of Brahmans and Ksatriyas
in India are cremated with rites which, though differing vastly in the
main from those observed in Siam, show the following similarities :
(1) the corpse is wrapped in a ceremonially pure cloth ; (2) gifts are
made to the officiating priests ; (3) the corpse is washed (4) the body is ;
apparelled in rich raiment and jewels (5) there is a funeral pyre

; ;
(6)the near relatives approach and deprive the corpse of all the jewels
with which it is adorned (7) the chief mourner walks round the funeral
;
pyre three times (8) coins are distributed amongst those present ;
;
(9) there are loud lamentations during the proceedings (10) the heir ;
stirs the ashes with a stick, looking for any bones that may have
escaped the flames (11) gathering up a portion of the ashes he throws

;
them into the water, the remainder he collects into a heap, to which
he gives the rough semblance of a human figure, supposed to represent
the deceased ; (12) the anniversaries of the deaths of his mother and
father must be observed with appropriate ceremonies, and liberal
1
Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. viii, No. 29, 1884,
p. 233.
CREMATION 159
giftsmust be made to the priests. 1 Some of these features were no

doubt borrowed by Buddhism from Hinduism at a very early period
but others are purely Hindu and have reached Siam via Cambodia
with a certain amount of influence from Srivijaya.
A study of such fragmentary records as we possess concerning the
funeral customs of the ancient Khmers and
their neighbours, the
Cams and the inhabitants of the Malay Archipelago (before conversion
to Islam), throws a little light on some of the Brahmanical features of
the Siamese Ceremony. I shall therefore quote such notes as I have
been able to collect concerning the funeral customs of these countries,
and then see what deductions can be made from them.
(1) As regards the Ancient Khmers :
The Chinese History of 502-556) gives the funeral

the Leang (A.D.
ceremonies of the people of Funan (the pre-Cambodian State), as
follows :
"
For mourning, the custom is to shave the beard and the hair.
There are four methods of disposal of the dead (a) throwing the:
dead body into a flowing stream, (b) burning it to ashes, (c) burying
2
it in the ground, (d) exposing it to the birds."
The seventh century Chinese chronicles give the following details :
"
The children of both sexes pass seven days in lamentations,
without food and without cutting their hair. The relations assemble
with Buddhist priests and the priests of the Tao (Brahmans), and
walk in procession with chants to the accompaniment of musical
instruments. The corpse is burnt on a pyre of aromatic wood and
the ashes are kept in an urn of silver or gold. Then the urn is thrown
into the middle of a great river. Poor people use urns of baked clay
painted in various colours. Sometimes the corpse is exposed on a
3
hill-side to be devoured by beasts."
(2) As regards the Cams :
"
For people of high rank, the cremation had to be performed near
to the mouth of the river, and in the case of the king the ashes were
thrown into the sea. Ceremonies were performed in honour of the
dead on the hundredth day and again in the third year." 4
(3) As regards the inhabitants of the Malay Archipelago :
Before the coming of Islam the peoples of the Malay Archipelago

had two methods of disposing of their dead :
By exposing them to vultures, etc., in very early times.

(a)
Cremation. Just as it was the custom in Cambodia to throw
(b)
part of the corpse on gold plates to the dogs and vultures, so it is
2 3
D., chaps, xxix and xxx.
1
C., p. 25. C., pp. 62 sq.
4 R. C. Majumdar, Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East, vol. i, Champa, 1927,
chap. ix.
stillin Bali, the last stronghold of Hinduism in the Netherlands

Indies. Before the coming of Islam, cremation was more general,
especially in Java. The body was washed with a decoction of odorous
plants, cinnamon, and salt, then wrapped in precious coloured vest-
ments, and placed on a bed covered by a tent. Underneath were placed
jars to receive the liquid depositions and the slave who collected
these was set at liberty. After enough money for a pompous funeral
had been collected the body was taken in ceremony to a bamboo
pyramid called ivadah [ Siamese Brah Meru ?] and was placed in
a coffin and burnt. The ashes were carefully collected and thrown
into the sea. Poor people, as with the Cams, buried their corpses
until they could afford to burn them. Islam buries all bodies and the
only remaining customs of Hinduism are the wrapping of bodies in
1
costly cloths and sometimes the use of coffins.
The above facts throw light on six points at least in the Siamese
Royal Cremation, and I will proceed to deal with them in turn :
(1) Exposure of the corpse to vultures It used to be the custom

:
in Siam at some time before cremation to cut off part of the flesh of
the corpse immediately after death, and offer it to the temple dogs
and vultures on gold or silver dishes. This was only done by the wish
of the deceased it long ago ceased to be the custom of royalty, and
;
has now been prohibited by law in the case of commoners. It was
given a Buddhist significance, and considered an act of great merit.

In Cambodia it was practised in the case of a royal corpse as late as
1859, at the death of
King Ang Duong.
Cheou Ta-kouan supposed that the chief method of disposal of the
dead in Cambodia was to expose them to the dogs and vultures.
Aymonier states that this was always more common in Siam than in
2
Cambodia and may have been in Cheou Ta-kouan' s time a recent

fashion brought in by the victories of the Siamese. I disagree with
this, while admitting that the Siamese, in the eagerness of their recent
conversion to Hmayanism, might have been the first to revive and give
a Buddhist significance to what I believe was a very ancient and
widespread custom. The practice was evidently a very ancient one
amongst the Khmers, since it is mentioned in the History of the Leing,
and it was also common amongst the Malays, prior to the introduction
of Islam. It survived in Siam until about thirty years ago in its
primitive form as a means of disposing of the bodies of criminals and

paupers, but even in these cases the bones were collected and either
buried or burnt. I think that this, together with the method of
throwing corpses into streams (mentioned in the Leang, and surviving
"
1 Antoine Cabaton, Ceremonial in use among the Malays at the death of their
kings," Revue du Monde Musulman, March, 1908.
2
A., iii, p. 631.
CREMATION
until quite recent times in Siam in the case of executed

princes) are
the two most primitive pre-Buddhist, pre-Hindu modes of
disposal of
the dead; they are probably very widespread
amongst primitive
peoples, and present a nice problem for the consideration of the
exponents of the schools of common and independent origin.
(2) The Urn The use of funeral urns is not confined to countries
:
with an Indian civilization, but both Hindus and Buddhists have

adopted them at least for the cremation of royalty. I suggest,
however, that the magnificence of the Siamese Urn is largely a product
of the Khmer cult of the
Deva-raja with a Burmese grdsdda spire
added. The placing of jars under the corpse to collect the
depositions,
among the old Malays, is reminiscent of the process of draining the
body in Siam and Cambodia, and if we had fuller information we
should probably find many further resemblances in the preparation

of the corpse for cremation. The Malays, prior to the coming of Islam,
were much influenced by Srivijaya, if indeed they did not form part
of that great empire, and if we had further evidence we should
probably
find that it was from that source that the Khmers derived of many
their Brahmanical cremation rites.
(3) The survival amongst the modern Malays of burial in rich
garments also suggests the derivation of the Siamese and Cambodian

royal funeral ornaments and attire from lrlvijaya.
(4) The throwing of the ashes into the sea or river is mentioned
as the custom of the seventh century Khmers, of the
Cams, and of
the old Malays. It is in accordance with Hindu custom as still found
in India,and is opposed to the Buddhist custom of burying the ashes
and preserving the relics, and Siam in the Ayudhya period
compromised
by casting the ashes into the river and keeping the bony relics.
(5) In Campa, ceremonies were performed on the hundredth day,
and again in the third year. In India, rites are performed on the
30th, 45th, 60th, 75th, 90th, 120th, 175th, 190th, 210th, 240th, 270th,
300th, and the 330th day after death, and on the anniversaries of
death. 1 These rites were the Hindu sraddhas, and I
suggest that the
2
seventh, fiftieth, and hundredth day rites and the annual homage to
the relics in Siam and Cambodia are survivals of these.
(6) The Chinese historian of the Leang noticed that the early
Khmers shaved their heads in mourning as they still do in Cambodia,
and as they did until recently in Siam. It is a custom probably much
older than Buddhism or Hinduism, and is almost world-wide. Its
1
D., p. 496.
2
But the seventh day rite has a special Buddhist significance in that,
according
to tradition, the Buddha was cremated on the seventh day after death.
origin presents as great a problem as does that of exposure of corpses

to wild beasts.
To sum up :
Despite the many gaps in detail, the evidence at our disposal is
sufficient to show that the present Siamese Royal Cremation has not
changed greatly since it took shape in the thirteenth to fourteenth
centuries, when Sinhalese Buddhism was definitely established. The
Sinhalese type of Royal Cremation was grafted on to the Khmer
Cult of the Deva-raja, inherited by the first Thai Kings. The Khmer
Cult had been founded on Indian Brahmanism much elaborated by its
passage through Srlvijaya. Lastly we are able to recognize elements,
such as placing a coin or gold piece in the mouth of the departed,
shaving the head in mourning, and giving part of the flesh of the
deceased to the beasts, which are survivals of very primitive pre-
historic funeral customs.
It will now be possible for me to explain why I have included
Cremation in the section of this book devoted to Ceremonies of
Installation.In comparing the Brahmanical rites of the Coronation
in Siam with those
of the Royal Cremation, I have been struck with
the resemblance between the two, and I suggest that the Cremation
of the ancientKhmers was, in fact, a Spiritual Coronation. I am not
going to maintain that all Funeral Ceremonies are to be looked on in
this way, but it may be so, and religions like Buddhism would naturally
obscure the idea and cause it to be forgotten. For the present I confine
my theory to Cambodia and Siam where, especially in the former
country, Divine Kingship the cult of the Deva-raja reached its highest
development. Most religions connect death with rebirth in another
world, and to secure that rebirth in a happy state is the raison d'etre
of all funeral ceremonies (except those primitive ones designed to
prevent the dead from worrying the living, which comes to practically
the same thing). We have seen that according to Hocart l the theory
of coronation is, or was, that the king (a) dies, (b) is reborn, (c) as a
god ;
and if in Siam (a) and (b) are not definitely expressed, at least
they are understood when the King takes on the divine attributes
of the Hindu gods at his coronation. Moreover, when a king considers
that his earthly power entitles him to rank as an emperor, he has
himself consecrated again with the rites of Indra, king of the gods
(Indrdbhiseka). Surely, then, when a king really dies his apotheosis
is most appropriately celebrated by an abhiseka, and this consecration
would be accompanied by even greater pomp and circumstance than

any during his lifetime, not only because it signifies the final step
1
Loc. cit.
CREMATION 163
in supreme elevation, but because, whatever doubt there

might
possibly be in the mind of the king himself or of others as to deification
during lifetime, the force of inspired tradition, of visions, and of the
mystery of the unknown life beyond the grave, could leave no doubt
in the minds of the people as to the possibility, indeed the certainty,
of deification after death.
I do not deny the
probability of an earlier ritual of cremation having
existed before the cult of divine kings had reached its climax and the
Koyal Cremation of Siam and Cambodia may have been built up on

such an earlier basis but I do maintain that the
;
theory explains the
extreme complexity of the Siamese rites which have
puzzled and
shocked Christians by their apparent and Buddhists
inappropriateness,
as well, judging by the
way in which the later Buddhist kings have
sought to prune them.
For the sake of convenience I will once more
quote Hocart's
tabular analysis of the component
parts of a typical Coronation.
(a) The theory is that the King (I) dies (2) is reborn, (3) as a god.
;
(1) Of course actually happens, and (2) and (3) form the Brahmanic
conception, though Buddhism substitutes Bodhisattva for god.
(b) By way of preparation he fasts and practises other austerities.
But, of course, the preparation is entirely spiritual, and those rites

which have been described on p. 138 (2) are performed by the priests.
(c) (1) Persons not admissible to the sacrifice, such as strangers,
sinners, women, and and are not allowed to
children, are kept away,
know anything (2) an armed guard prevents prying eyes. The same
;
remarks as to the privacy of the more important ceremonies and the

presence of guards apply to the Cremation as to the Coronation.
(d) A kind of sabbath is observed ; the people are silent and lie quiet
as death. There is an extended period of mourning. This has
disappeared from the Coronation, because the idea of death (previous
to rebirth as a god) has been lost.
The King must fight a ritual combat [(1) by arms,
(e) or] (2) by
ceremonies, and (3) come out victorious. The victory is, of course,
entirely spiritual, even more so than was that of the Coronation.
Most religions regard death as a victory over the flesh Brahmanism :
attains it by sacrifice, and Buddhism

by the conquest of desire. The
Drums of Victory are present in the Cremation
procession as well as
at the Coronation.
(/) [(1) rfte King is admonished to rule justly, and (2) promises to do so.]
Nothing of this remains now, but there is no reason why there should
not have been such an admonition, and promise, at one time. We
have the analogy of the victims about to be buried alive at the city
gates being admonished to guard them well. No doubt the deified

kings of Ankor were believed to continue to take a strong personal
interest in affairs of State, and were
supplicated in times of danger.
And I doubt not that the periodic homage to the relics of kings in
Bangkok has some such origin.
(g) [He receives communion in one or two kinds.] It has already
been remarked, in connection with Coronation, that
soma-drinking
has disappeared from all Buddhist countries. So far as I know, there
was no soma-drinking at death but there is still a form of communion
;
"
among the Hindus in India, where the purohita pours a few drops of
pancha-gavia into the mouth of the dying man, by virtue of which his
body becomes perfectly purified "^ If such a rite ever existed in Siam
or Cambodia, it has now entirely disappeared.
(h) The people indulge at one point in [(1)
obscenities,] or (2)
buffoonery. The theatrical
entertainments, boxing, tumbling, etc.,
which were such a great feature of royal cremations until recent
years,
and which have appeared so mal A propos in the eyes of
foreigners and
recent Buddhist kings, are
perfectly explicable on my theory that the
Cremation is a Spiritual Coronation of the deified
king.
(i) The King is invested with special garments. We have seen that
ancient monarchical garments are put on the
corpse before it is placed
in the urn.
(j) He is baptized with water purificatory baths ;
(k) and anointed with oil not

but perfumes and cocoa-nut
oil,
water in Siam. Purificatory bath and abhiseka are confused in
Cremation as in Coronation.
[When a human victim is killed.] No relic of this could exist
(I)
sideby side with Buddhism in Siam, but Indian Hindu kings were
accompanied in death by their wives and slaves.
(m) And the people rejoice with noise and acclamation. The
ceremonial music on conches, flageolets, and drums of
victory, and
the firing of guns, now regarded as
signs of respect and ritual
accompaniments.
(n) A
feast is given in the Cremation, just as in the Coronation,
roasted grains are scattered (but
by the young princes) and not only
monks, but all those who pay homage at the are fed, and pyre largesse
is distributed, but now it takes the form of money contained in limes,
while in the Coronation there was the
scattering of gold and silver
flowers.
(o) The King is crowned when in the urn.

(p) Puts on shoes ;
1
D., p. 482.
CREMATION 165
(q) And receives other regalia such as a sword, a sceptre, a ring, etc.-
the sword and sceptre have been displaced by Buddhism in favour of

a candle and an offering of betel but a gold chain is placed round
;
the neck, a nine-tiered umbrella is hung over the Urn, and, when
in procession, a page carries a fan.
(r) And sits upon a throne. Catafalque or Brah Meru, the throne
" "
of Indra ;
the invitation to the corpse to be seated thereon is
significant.
(s) [He takes three ceremonial steps in imitation of the rising sun.]

dominions and receives the homage of the vassals. The circumambulation
around the Pyre symbolizes the god's journey round Mount Meru,
especially if the deified king was a sun-god.
(u) He receives a new name. The first three kings of the Bangkok
dynasty had posthumous titles identifying them as Bodhisattvas,
and we have seen that Khmer kings often received posthumous titles
signifying that they had gone to the heavens of their favourite deities.
(v) [The Queen is consecrated with the King.] An explanation of
sail in India ?
(w) [So are the vassals or officials either at the coronation ceremony
or in the course of the King's tour.]
(x) [Those who take part in the rites are dressed up as gods, sometimes
with masks.] But it is to be noted that the dead king wears a gold
mask which represents the shining visage of a god.
[Which may be those of animals, thus identifying the wearer
(y)
with some kind of beast] But the presence of the mythical beasts in
the procession is to be noted.
step in the scale of kingship. And, according to my hypothesis, Crema-
tion is the final step.
2. The Functional Value of the Royal Cremation.

I have already indicated the functional value of certain parts of
the Eoyal Cremation, but will conclude with a general summary.
Cremation and Coronation are undoubtedly two of the most important,
sociologically, of all the
Koyal Ceremonies of Siam. Perhaps they are
not quite the most important since they occur comparatively rarely
in the lifetime of most members of the public, whereas there are
other annual ceremonies which from their more frequent occurrence
perhaps do more to impress the people with the majesty of the kingship.
Nevertheless, a Coronation or a King's Cremation once seen can scarcely
be forgotten even by the most unimpressionable.
It is particularly important that a Koyal Cremation should be

celebrated with the greatest possible pomp, because death is the
greatest danger that the idea of divine kingship has to combat.
It strikes right at the roots of the whole conception, and instils doubt
into the minds of a people who, until recently, had not dared even to
contemplate the possibility of a king suffering from any mortal
infliction and now, with the spread of western education, modern
;
scepticism, and the shadow of communism, the Royal Cremation plays

an even bigger part than formerly in impressing on the people that
the king is not dead, but has migrated to a higher plane, where he will
work out his destiny as a Bodhisattva for the good of all beings. The
mixture of Brahmanism and Buddhism is fortunate the former:
lends itself more to the exaltation of the kingship, while the latter
emphasises the royal protection of the people's religion and enables

them to enter into the spirit of the ceremonies.
The Eoyal Cremation has another important sociological aspect :
it shows, more strongly than does the Coronation, the new king's
respect for his ancestors, for the dynasty, and for old traditions.
It is also an example to the people
in filial piety. Throughout history
a new
king, even a usurper, did well to honour the former occupant
of the throne. A classical example of this is recorded in the Mahd-
vamsa 1The great Sinhalese king Dutthagamini accorded full
:
funeral honours to his fallen Tamil adversary Elara, who, though a
foreigner, had ruled Ceylon wisely and well for many years. On the
other hand, the cold-blooded execution and deprivation of funeral
honours of King Tak by Rama I, though considered necessary in
those stern times, undoubtedly struck a blow at the people's respect
for the kingship, which has only been repaired by the passage of years
and the wisdom of later rulers.
As with the Coronation, it is the more public and stately parts of
the Royal Cremation which have most sociological value in maintaining
the respect of the masses for the kingship. They have no understanding
of the significance of most of the rites, such as we have discussed in
detail, but they have an innate love and respect for all forms of royal
pageantry, and it is the magnificence of the state procession, the
splendour of theUrn enthroned upon the catafalque, or the brilliantly
illuminated Brah Meru, that impress them that their King is a great
King and the opportunity that is given them of paying homage by
;
laying candles upon the pyre and thus storing up great merit, convince
them that he is also a gracious one. But they miss the mythical
monsters and the free theatrical entertainments, for they are a
i
M., xxv. 71-4.
CREMATION 167
light-hearted people, and these things mean much to them and it is ;
only to be hoped that what the Royal Cremation gains in dignity

by these omissions may to some extent make up for the apparent
diminution of the royal bounty.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XII

The following is a list of the mythical monsters, denizens of the
Himaphan, whose effigies used to take part in Eoyal Cremation and
Tonsure Ceremonies. Images of a few of these creatures are to be
seen in the courtyard of the Chapel Eoyal. They are also depicted
on the walls of Vat Brah Jetavana and other temples, while miniatures
representing them are to be found in certain old manuscripts :
1
Where a description consists of two hyphened words, the first word usually
refers to theappearance of the fore-part of the creature, while the second refers to
the hind-part. This list is adapted from that recently published in Bangkok,
together with a drawing of each species, by Nay Kro'n Silpabejra.
Traditional Colour.
dark blue and purple
vermilion
green, red fins and tail
" natural colour "
light red (nat. col.)

purple, green fins and tail
black, green wings and tail
yellow
yellow
yellow, green wings and tail
reddish purple
blue
blue
vermilion
violet
dark yellow
light yellow
light yellow
dark yellow
vermilion
light yellow
vermilion
vermilion
white, yellow wings and tail
green wings, yellow tail
black and white
"
natural colour of horse "
indigo
grey, yellow wings and tail
yellow
dark blue
white, purple tail
vermilion
vermilion
CHAPTER XIII
THE WORSHIP OF DEAD KINGS

There was probably a time when a primitive form of ancestor
worship was common to all the peoples of Indo- China and, together
with animism, formed their only religion, as it does to-day for most
Chinese. Later, this came to be overlaid by forms derived from India,
and so we have to-day in Siam, so far as the common people are con-
cerned, an inextricable mixture of Indian and Mongolian forms of
ancestor worship. In the first place, it is customary for every one who
can afford it to give a feast at New Year at which the spirits of the
dead are supposed to attend. Lighted candles and flowers are placed
before the urns and Buddhist monks come to take part in the feast
and recite appropriate stanzas and receive sataâkarana gifts. This
New Year is, despite its Buddhist
reception of the ancestral spirits at
with similar festivals of Chinese origin, which take
setting, identical
place in Annam, Cochin-China, Tonquin, and Japan.
1
On the other
2
hand, Gerini has shown the resemblance between the three sets of
oblations offered at the commencement of every domestic ceremony
and the Baliyajna, Devayajna, and Pitriyajna, or offerings to all
creatures, to the gods, and to the Pitris (spirits of the dead) which form
so conspicuous a feature of the Hindu Sraddhas.
Coming now to the immediate subject of this chapter, the worship

of dead kings, we find that this is an extremely widespread custom,
as Frazer has shown in the various volumes of the Golden Bough in ;
fact, it is the logical sequel to the belief in the divinity of kings, and
as such will bring to a natural conclusion our studies of Ceremonies of
Installation. So far as Siam is concerned, the proximate origin of
the worship of dead kings is to be found in the cult of the Deva-raja
in Cambodia, which was also known in Java and South India. We
have discussed in Chapter IV with almost sufficient detail the nature
of this Deva-raja Cult, and have seen that it combined deification with
ancestor worship, the Royal God being either worshipped as a iva~
linga or as a statue of Visnu or Siva, having the features of the deceased
king. Special shrines were devoted to this cult, and of these the most
famous is Ankor Vat. According to an ancient legend current among
the modern Cambodians, Ankor Vat was the supernaturally built
1 a
OB. vi, pp. 62 sqq. Ge. (1), pp. 40, 41.
169
palace of a king who was miraculously reborn a second time on earth

after a short stay in Indra's paradise. Cheou Ta-kouan, as would
appear
natural to a Chinese, supposed that it was the tomb of a dead monarch ;
and now Coedes 1 has shown that it was indeed the palace of a king, but
of a dead one, under the name of Paramavisnuloka, who was supposed
to inhabit the central tower of the temple. This deified monarch to
whom this Visnu temple was dedicated was either Udayaditya-
varman II (1048-79) or Suryavarman II (1112-1165),
The rulers of the first independent Thai kingdom at
Sukhodaya
retained, as we have much
as they could of Khmer Hinduism
seen, as
the better to support their new-found majesty, at the same time
revering and protecting the recently introduced Hmayanistic Buddhism.
The latter, at least in its popular form, was not incompatible with the
worship of the dead king who, as a Bodhisattva, might be in a position
to aid those still on earth but this worship could no longer rank in
;
degree or fervour with that which had been accorded to the Khmer
Deva-raja by Hinduism or even Mahayanism. Nevertheless right
down to the present day two methods of showing honour to the
deceased kings of the dynasty remain, one of which is apparently
Hindu, the other Buddhist.
In the former, the reigning king goes to pay his respects before the
golden life-size statues of the deceased kings of the dynasty which
are enshrined in niches in that fine cruciform building, surmounted
by a
tall Cambodian
grahg, situated within the precincts of the Grand Palace,
and known as the Ho Brah Debpitara, or Pantheon (PL XXVIII).
The King, on entering the shrine, lights candles and makes the usual
obeisance with joined palms before the statues, and then retires ;
after which the nobles, officials, and members of the general

public
of both sexes crawl into the building on hands and knees,
prostrate
themselves before the statues, and pay homage with joined palms,
and then they crawl out through another door. Surely this is
very
much what used to happen in the shrines dedicated to the Eoyal
God in ancient Cambodia. The only difference between the statues
of the Bangkok kings and the deified
kings of the Khmers is that
instead of being represented with the attributes of
gods, they are
true portrait statues but this is an innovation of the
;
Bangkok period,
indeed the first three kings never allowed themselves to be
portrayed,
and their statues are based on the composite ideas of four old people
who had seen all three kings and were ordered by King Rama IV to
instruct an artist.
The Buddhist method of paying respect to the dead kings takes the
1
Coedes, Lea Baa Reliefs d' Angkor, p. 59.
PLATE XXVIII.
STATU.BB OF THE KTNUS OF TIJK CAKR? DYNASTY EH THIS

PANTIIKON".
ITofttre JUKI? 170,

PLATE XXIX,
Flute: Itomihtk Time* J'r<m*, Uil.
ROYAL RBLKJS PLACED IN STATE ON AN ALTAR

IN THJS AMARINDRA HALL,
THE WORSHIP OF DEAD KINGS 171
form of placing the urned relics under a nine-tiered umbrella-of-state

on an altar in the Amarindra (PL XXIX) Hall or in the new Ananta
Samagama Hall, where the King and Queen light candles and incense -
1 A
sticks, and pay the usual homage before the relics. chapter of monks
recites stanzas, an abbot preaches a sermon, and the King lays down
robes for the SatayaJcarana rite. Candles are also lit before the altar
on which are the images of Buddha cast for the reigns which are being
honoured. These images are cast merely as an act of merit, and as
symbolizing the royal devotion to Buddhism. They do not represent
the kings as incipient Buddhas, and are therefore not to be confounded
with the statues in the Pantheon and the Brahmanic conception.
Similarly, small images are cast for every year of each king's age,
and are kept in the Cakri Palace during his lifetime, and afterwards
placed in the Chapel Eoyal.

At New Year, Coronation Anniversary, and on Cakri Day, the
latter kept on 6th April as a memorial to the accession of the Cakri
dynasty, the relics of all the deceased kings of the dynasty and their
first queens are thus honoured, and reverence is also paid to the
statues in the Pantheon as above described. On the anniversary of

the death of King Kama V and on that of King Kama VI, the relics
of these two kings only are honoured, each on the appropriate day, the
relics of the Queen Mother, i.e. the first queen of King Kama V, being
also honoured with those of that king. But on these occasions there
is no celebration in the Pantheon.
Although, on all the above occasions, the Chapel Koyal is open
for members of the general public to worship before the Emerald
Buddha (after the King has left the building) and on Cakri
Day the public are also admitted into the Pantheon, yet the honouring
of the actual relics is a semi-private affair, only the Koyal Family,
the nobles, and official world taking part in the homage. This was
appropriate in the days when the people were kept at a distance from
royalty, and when the only function that such ceremonies had was
to increase the nobles' and officials' fear of, and respect for, the dynasty.
But King Kama V created in the hearts of his subjects an entirely new
outlook with regard to the ruler, a deep personal affection for the
sovereign who had done so much to relieve the hardships of his people,
as apart from the ingrained traditional respect for the kingship. Hence,
after his death, there arose a spontaneous desire for an annual
opportunity for the people to pay public homage to his memory. This
1 The
classical Buddhist precedent of honouring relics is the occasion on which
the Mallas paid homage for seven days before the relics of the Buddha (Maha-
Parinibbana Sutta, vi, 60). It was, of course, founded on earlier Brahmanic usage.
was provided by the institution of a public holiday on the anniversary

of his death, known as Culalankarana Day (23rd October). On this
day the great equestrian statue of King Rama V, situated in the middle
of the royal plaza, is surrounded with a rdjavdt fence adorned with
tiered umbrellas, and the base of the statue is massed with wreaths
and artistic floral decorations, the tribute of schools, government
departments, and commercial bodies. The King and Queen arrive
by motor-car and, after inspecting the floral tributes, light candles
and incense -sticks and offer flowers on the altar placed opposite the
western entrance to the enclosure. Then they kneel and pay homage,
while aeroplanes circle overhead. The National Anthem is played,
and the King and Queen drive away. Throughout the day thousands
of people take advantage of the opportunity to pay homage before the
statue and, although music and refreshments are provided on both
sides of the plaza, the occasion is celebrated with befitting dignity.
The fifth anniversary (1930) of the death of King Rama VI was
celebrated on an unusually grand scale, the ceremonies extending over
three days, 25th, 26th, and 27th November. It has been the custom
in recent years to commemorate the death of any notable person by
the publication of a Siamese historical, literary, or religious work,
selected from amongst the manuscripts preserved in the National
Library. This is a very excellent custom which has done much to

spread the knowledge and appreciation of the national literature.
The enormous task of printing a new edition of the whole Tripitdka
was undertaken by public subscription in order to commemorate the
death of the late King, and this has recently been completed 1,500
sets, each of forty-five volumes. The completion of this great national
work was celebrated together with the usual rites for the honouring
of the relics of the late King. The special features were that on
26th November, part of the Scriptures were carried in procession
from the Theological School at Vat Pavaranivesa to the Chapel
Royal and there placed on the altar, together with the image of the
Buddha (named Brah Buddhapatima Jayavadhana) for the sixth
reign. The King lit candles before this image, before the Emerald
Buddha, and before the Tripitaka. A sermon was preached, and a
chapter of monks performed the consecration service. Afterwards
the King proceeded to the Royal Pavilion erected on the lawn behind
the Chapel Royal, where he witnessed lantern dances and other
appropriate entertainments. Then he lit fireworks as a mark of
worship, and took his departure. On the Royal Cremation Ground
were a few theatres and other forms of entertainment for the public,
but they were not on a very grand scale owing to the prevailing desire
THE WORSHIP OF DEAD KINGS 173
for economy. I noticed that the Bamayana masked drama still

holds place among Siamese entertainments in the hearts of the
first
populace. The Chapel Koyal was also open for the public to pay
their respects before the Buddha for the sixth
reign, and the Emerald
Buddha. Here again I mingled with the crowds that passed through
the sacred fane and noticed their awed humility and deep
respect
when within the holy precincts. Next day the King visited the
Chapel Royal once more, and presented food and other gifts to the
monks who had officiated the day before. A vian dian rite performed
by the Brahmans for the benefit of the sacred books indeed a remark-
able instance of the fusion of Buddhism and Hinduism in Siam
concluded the rites, after which the Tripitaka was taken back to the
Theological School.
In the year 1932 will occur the 150th anniversary of the founding
of the City of Bangkok, and
very special celebrations are to take place
as they did at the Bangkok Centenary, which will include the
honouring
of the relics of Kama I the founder, of whom a bronze to be image,
placed at the head of the new Menam bridge, is
shortly to be cast
in Italy.
One more method of payinghomage to deceased kings in Siam
remains to be mentioned the setting of a photograph or lithograph
:
of the particular king on a table, before which are made the usual
offerings of lighted candles, flowers, and incense. This is now a very

popular custom, both in government institutions and private houses,
since every Siamese home possesses at least a
cheap lithograph and
can thus show its loyalty in this easy and practical manner. But it is
of course quite a new custom, since the
making of royal portraits
only came into fashion after the middle of last century, after the
belief that this was harmful to the
person represented had been
officially discountenanced. Indeed, the supposition that some part
" "
of the royal soul (if one may be permitted to use this loose term)
might possibly inhabit the portrait, 1 would be an added stimulus to

paying homage before it. It is also a modern means of expressing
what remains of the worship of the living
King, for whenever it is
desired to honour him, especially on the occasion of a
royal procession,
portraits of the King set up on tables may be seen at almost every
Siamese doorway along the route.
In determining the exact degree of " "
worship that remains in
the honouring of the relics, statues, and pictures of the deceased
king
at the present time, one must beware of
generalization. One cannot,
for example, compare the homage to the statues in the Pantheon with
1
OB. Hi, pp. 06 sqq.
the homage of the people before the equestrian statue of King Kama V.
In the former, respect for the abstract conception of the kingship is
uppermost, and as such is a relic of the Khmer cult of the Koyal God ;
whereas in the latter we have something entirely new, respect for the
memory of a great sovereign and a good man, a loyal and spontaneous
show which might, perhaps not inappropriately, be
of affection,
compared to the attitude of those gathered before the Cenotaph in

Whitehall to honour the memory of those who fell in the Great War.
I have been present both at the Pantheon on Cakri Day and at the
equestrian statue on Culalankarana Day, and have endeavoured to

analyse the attitude of the people. As I have said, one cannot
generalize, and it seems that the attitude of mind on these occasions
depends largely on the individual. The more ignorant portions of
the masses seem to retain a good deal of that blind respect for the
kingship as such, which probably characterized the Khmers in the
days of the Deva-raja cult and popular Buddhism, with its desire
to make merit and its prayers for material benefits offered before the
altar of the Buddha, differs little from such popular worship amongst
the Hindus. But it seems probable that, with the spread of education,
the greater knowledge of the purer tenets of Buddhism and the substitu-
tion, gradual but inevitable, of respect for the Man in the place of
respect for Divine Kingship, the attitude of mind in which respect is

offered to the memory of dead kings, will tend to approximate more
and more to that of other advanced nations, of whatever creed. In
this coming change the present dynasty, who have long made them-
selves the true fathers of their people, have nothing to fear, and one
cannot imagine the time when such days of remembrance will cease
to have a sociological value.
PART IV
CEREMONIES CLOSELY CONNECTED

WITH THE KINGSHIP
CHAPTER XIV
ROYAL AUDIENCES 1
1. State Audiences and the Reception of Embassies.
With the establishment of modern diplomatic relations with foreign

powers and the appointment of resident foreign representatives, State
Audiences, such as were accorded to foreign embassies in the days
when they were few and far between, have almost become a thing of
the past. Intercourse with European powers and with America
pursues itseven course through the ordinary diplomatic channels,
and when the King receives a diplomat or distinguished visitor he
receiveshim in Private Audience in the Ananta Samagama Throne Hall
on the same quietly dignified lines as mark such occasions in Europe.
The State Audience takes place now only on great occasions
such as following the Coronation, and on the Coronation Anniversary,
and is simply the occasion for offering a congratulatory address to
the King, who replies shortly in suitable terms. On the occasion of
the Coronation of King Prajadhipok, I was fortunate in being present
at the State Audience, and under unusual conditions. The setting
was well fitted to inspire those present with a sense of the majesty
of the occasion :
Troops in brilliant uniforms lined the courtyards
leading to the Amarindra Hall, where the audience took place. Officials
in still more gorgeous uniforms, over which were draped gowns of
silver or golden tissue, thronged the
courtyards. Every department
was represented, but perhaps the most numerous uniforms were the
striking sky-blue and silver of the Mahhatlek and the black and gold
of the officers of the Royal Household. The sun shone
brilliantly, and
the green, vermilion, and the yellow tiles of the temple roofs and the
blazing gold of the great pagoda vied with the splendour of the
uniforms in their combined effort to dazzle the human eye. The
officials and nobles, the Diplomatic and a considerable number of
Corps,
European officials crowded into the Hall, which is of noble proportions,
but with its decoration of light and dark green and silver
appeared
sombre in comparison with the splendour of the uniforms. The
officials stood in groups and
every now and then glanced towards
1
The
chief sources are the writings of the seventeenth
century European
ambassadors and missionaries, especially La Loubere and Gervaise. Siamese Embassies
to Europe, by H.R.H. Prince
Damrong, has also been found useful.
177 N
the heavy golden curtains which cut off a raised dais at one end of
the Hall. It was there that at a given signal the King would appear.
I was anxious to see the proceedings from behind the curtain where
were grouped around the golden throne chamberlains and pages of
the Mahhatlek, those officers whose duty it was to be in closest
attendance upon the King, and I took up my position among them
near the wall on the right of the throne. The King, wearing full state
robes and the Great Crown of Victory, entered the curtained-off part
of the Amarindra Hall by means of a door leading from the Bais*ala
Hall, and immediately ascended the throne, the chamberlains bowing
their respects. As soon as the King had arranged his robes and
signified his readiness, a fanfare resounded and three taps of two ivory
blocks were the signal for the curtains to be suddenly drawn to reveal
to the waiting officials the King on his throne of audience. The lighting
was very cleverly arranged to present the King as the centre of a
symmetrical picture? of glittering gold. This golden audience throne
called Brali-di-nah Budtdn Ddn (Golden Hibiscus Throne) differs from
the Bhadrapitha in being more highly ornamented and set on a tall
tiered pyramid, carved with figures of devatds and garudas. It was
flanked by tables bearing the regalia and by gold and silver trees,
while above was reared the nine-tiered white umbrella. The King
sat perfectly still, and seemed like an image in a niche. He listened
intently to the address of homage and congratulation offered by Prince

Barnaransi, who stood in front of the princes and nobles gathered
in order of precedence below the dais. He moved only once, and that
was to take from a chamberlain a scroll from which he read his reply.
This completed, Prince Barnaransi intimated his acceptance of the
royal commands, the officials bowed, the fanfare sounded, and the
curtains immediately closed to blot from the eyes of those in the body
of the hall this imposing picture. Once the curtains had fallen the
King relaxed, and while he was crown he smilingly
relieved of his
joked with those around him. This part of the procedure was to me
the most interesting, as it showed the quite pleasing and unassuming
manner of a modern Siamese king when surrounded by none but his
personal officers.
This magnificent State Audience was hailed at the time by some
"
of the newspapers as a fine example of veneration of the past ".
If the journalists concerned had taken the trouble to discover what
was the form of audiences in the past they might have observed that,
except for the attire of the King, this occasion bore little resemblance
to the State Audiences of old. To me it seemed that the modern
lighting effects, the uniforms of the Mahhatlek, and those of the nobles
ROYAL AUDIENCES 179
and officials, suggested rather a Court function of some Balkan capital.

I noticed the presence of no antique uniforms such as give the
impression of Old Siam to most of the State Ceremonies, but only that
efflorescence of semi-European styles which was evolved in the last
reign, but which has happily undergone considerable curtailment during

the present one. This is especially fortunate in the case of the Kram
Mahhatlek, which department has been abolished, and the uniform of
which, by no means unpleasing in itself, did much to mar the
appearance of many a Court ceremony on account of its close
proximity to the royal person. The structure and appearance of the
type of throne used, the lack of indeed the pro-
all prostration,
ceedings in general, made it difficult to connect the present spectacle

with its prototype in Old Siam.
The State or Public Audience, being a non-religious ceremony, so
far as anything connected with a divine monarch can be considered
as non-religious, has changed more readily from time to time in
accordance with the etiquette in use in those countries from which
embassies were most frequently received. Thus, if the etiquette was
which is suggested by its resemblance to
originally entirely Hindu,
that of Pegu and Ceylon, was affected by Chinese influence at times
it
when intercourse was more frequent with that country; while from
the seventeenth century onwards Siam has been doing her best to
withstand the repeated attempts of European countries to force
theirmethods of diplomacy upon her. In the last century the missions
of Crawfurd (1822) and Bowring (1856) are, especially the former,
replete with the difficulties which they encountered as a result of

mutual misunderstandings. Although Bowring succeeded in concluding
a treaty, and establishing modern diplomatic relations, with the right
of foreign representatives to follow their own customs when attending
Court, it was not until the reign of King Rama V that prostration
was abolished for the Siamese themselves, and State Audiences

assumed nearly their present form.
In the eighteenth century Siam was practically closed to Europeans,
except the Dutch, there being otherwise only the abortive mission of
Philip V of Spain in 1718. This seclusion was due to the sharp lesson
which the Siamese had learnt at the end of the seventeenth century
when a timely revolution only just saved Siam from becoming a French
colony. The intercourse which nearly gave France possession of the
country was marked by two embassies (1) that of de Chaumont in
:
1685 of which we have full accounts in the writings of the ambassador

himself, and those of the missionaries Tachard and Gervaise ; (2) that
of La Loubere in 1687-8. He, unlike any other early European
ambassador, was able to forget his own difficulties sufficiently to give

us a very valuable objective account of the Siamese etiquette. The
French were also more sympathetic and willing to conform to the
outward forms than were the ambassadors of other nations, and
perhaps they had also greater knowledge, derived from their
missionaries who had preceded them. Thus it is that although we
have two early Dutch accounts of the forms of audiences, 1 and there
was a Siamese embassy to Prince Maurice of Orange as early as 1607,
it is from the French accounts that I take most of the
following details
as to the customs relative to State Audiences and the
Reception of
Embassies as they were at a time before they were corrupted by
European influence.
The most striking point with regard to the Siamese idea of an
embassy, and the one which most astonished the early European
ambassadors, was that it was the custom in Siam and other Far Eastern
countries to regard the foreign king's letter as the essential factor, to
pay all respects to it, and to regard the ambassadors as mere messengers.
But if this hurt the pride of the European ambassadors, it was as
nothing to the insult which the Siamese monarchs felt, and rightly
felt in my opinion, was inflicted
upon them when they found that,
in the case of the first British and the Spanish missions, the letter was
not sent by the King, but by a governor-general. At first the Siamese
were ready to believe that this functionary might be the King's brother,
an Ugaraja or Second King, but on learning that he was a mere official
of State thathad dared to address his Siamese Majesty, a person who
would have been compelled to grovel in the dust before his king had
he been a Siamese, their indignation was unbounded for quite ;
naturally they were unable to understand delegated authority. It

was a similarly limited outlook that involved the British in so much
trouble in Burma, where the King also felt himself degraded by the
epistles he received directly from the Goompanee Min, or King
Company, a term coined, somewhat ironically, I presume, to express
that importunate body of merchants, the East India
Company. There
can be no doubt whatever that the French owed their success at the
end of the seventeenth century largely to the fact that their letters
were couched in glowing terms and emanated directly from their
King. Later, the British appreciated the position and Sir John
Bowring was charged with a letter directly from the Queen. Following
our study of the conception of the kingship, the two ideas that the
Royal Letter was alone worthy of respect and that only a king could
address a king, will be readily understood.
1
F. Caron and J. Schouten, 1662; and J. Struys, Eng. ed., 1684.
ROYAL AUDIENCES 181
When a ship conveying a foreign embassy arrived at the mouth

of the river, it was obligatory to unship all guns, and the ship pro-
ceeded independently to the capital. A procession c f state barges was
sent down to receive the letter and the ambassadors (Fig. 2). The Royal
Letter was placed in a gold receptacle, and placed on the head of the
Siamese bearer, as a sign of respect then it was carried under a royal
;
umbrella to a Throne Barge, and installed under the spire. The

ambassadors followed in less splendid barges, and on arrival were
accommodated with what degree of comfort the country could afford.
The first audience was with the Brah Glah, a sort of Minister of
Commerce or Minister of Foreign Affairs, the two posts being regarded
as the same in those days, since all foreigners appeared to be connected
with trade. It was at these audiences that the ceremonial to be
observed at the Royal Audience was decided, and several visits to the
BraJi Gldfiwere often necessary before an agreement could be reached,
on account of the obstinacy displayed on both sides. The Brah Gldn
refused to return the ambassador's visits because such was against
etiquette until after the Royal Audience ;

nor were the ambassadors
allowed to go about freely in the city, but were placed under a strict
watch until after the Royal Audience. Then they were allowed
complete freedom, and were supposed to be safe from all rudeness
on the part of the populace, being considered to be under the King's
protection and they were also then allowed to engage in trading if
;
they wished. Presents of food were frequently sent to them, and a

sum of money was granted for their maintenance, it being the custom
for the King to bear all the expenses of the mission while resident in
the country. This was contrary to European custom, and an added
insult in the eyes of the ambassadors was the fact that the amount of
the payment, which would no doubt have been ample for the upkeep
of Asiatic messengers, was to the Europeans a mere pittance. The
British ambassadors refused to accept it, and this mutual misunder-
standing was another obstacle in the way of the success of their

missions.
According to Gervaise there was a marked difference in the mode

of reception of the Letter, according towhether it was sent by a
sovereign who was regarded as an equal or merely as a vassal. In the
latter case the Letterwas kept by the Brah Gldn, and a translation
into Siamese was made it was placed until the day of audience in a
;
small house having a pyramidal shape, outside the city wall, and was
presented to the King on the day of audience by a Siamese official.
In the case of a king of equal rank the procedure was different the :
ambassadors accompanied the Letter in full state to the palace, and

were allowed to present it to the

King themselves. This was the
procedure followed in the case of de Chaumont and La Loubere, but
Crawfurd was evidently treated as a vassal, for his letter was not
even produced at the audience, and only the translation of it was
read nor were the interpreters belonging to the mission allowed to
;
function. This mistake on the part of the Siamese of

regarding the
British in the light of vassals is understandable, since Crawfurd's
letter came only from a
governor-general, and hence the mission could
not be considered to rank with that of a sovereign. The
King would
not consent to discuss a treaty with him, and he was told to confer with
the Brak Gldn, who was regarded as the whom
proper person to such a
letter should have been addressed.
When at last the preliminaries had been settled, and the audience
day had arrived, the ambassadors went in procession through the

decorated streets, and were saluted by the guards, who were drawn up.
The White Elephant and royal chargers were also on show for the
occasion within the courtyards of the palace. When
they reached
the inner gate, the ambassadors were required to remove their shoes,
also their swords or other weapons, no one
being allowed to enter
the King's presence armed. King Rama IV was the first to waive this
rule, when he allowed Sir John Bowring's officers to retain their
swords. As a rule the members of the ambassadors' suite were not
allowed to accompany them into the Audience Hall.
At the State Audiences at Ayudhya the form of throne was peculiar
and different from that used at Bangkok. It was, in fact, not in the
Hall of Audience at all but in an
adjoining room belonging to a higher
storey, and from a window of which, situated about 10 feet above the
ground, the King had a prospect of the Audience Hall (Fig. 3). The
King's throne or seat could not actually be seen, and at the termination
of the audience it was drawn
away by unseen hands, and the shutters
were closed. La Loubere remarks that this form of window throne
was also in use in China, and was probably derived there-
I think it
from, since embassies were exchanged between China and Cambodia

from the third century A.D., and in the thirteenth
century Rama
Gamheii himself visited the Imperial Court. There were similar
arrangements at LabapurT, which was a favourite residence of King
Narayana. The ruins still remain in tolerably good preservation.
I have visited them
personally, and found the Audience Hall very
similar to that which existed at
Ayudhya, as figured by La Loubere.
The modern arrangement of curtains and a comparatively low
gilded
throne is therefore an innovation of the It was in
Bangkok period.
use at the first Bangkok audience of which we have a record, i.e. in
\ Hep) oil {tcetl from La Loulere
FIG. 3.THE AUDIENCE HALL AT AYUDHYA

\ To face page 182
ROYAL AUDIENCES 183
the reign of King Rama II. On either side of the audience window
was placed an umbrella of seven stages, and above it was reared one
of nine tiers. The Siamese officers of State were arranged in the
Audience Hall strictly in accordance with their order of precedence,
the nearest about twenty paces from the window, and of course they
were all prostrate throughout the proceedings. The ambassadors,
and in the seventeenth century those French missionaries who were
also allowed to be present to act as interpreters, were given whatever
place the King thought suited to their rank, and they were allowed to
sit or stand according to that relaxation of rule which the King had
been prevailed upon to allow, but with special orders to keep their
feet and the lower parts of their bodies hidden. When the King
appeared, all paid homage by raising the joined palms three times
and lowering the head until the forehead touched the ground, but
the latter part was not insisted upon for Europeans. The same salute
terminated the proceedings. The following interesting extract from
La Loubere describes the arrangement of the Audience Hall during the
1
State Audience at which his embassy was received :
"
(a) Three Steps which are placed under the Window, where the
King Siam was, to raise me high enough to
of deliver him the King's
Letter from hand to hand.
"
(6) Three Parasols or Umbrellas.
"
(c) Two pair of Stairs to go up into the place where the King
of Siam was.
"
(d) Two Tables covered with Tapestry, on which were laid the
King's Present, which could be held there.
"
(e) The Son of Mr. Ceberet standing, holding the King's Letter
in a Gold Bason of Filigreen with a triple Story.
"
(/) Two little square and low Stools, each covered with a little
Carpet, for the King's Envoys to sit on. Monsieur de Chaumont
had such another.
"
fg) The Bishop of Metellopolis, Apostolick Vicar, sitting cross-
legged.
"
(h) Monsieur Constance prostrate at my right hand, and behind
me to serve as my interpreter.
"
Father Tachart sitting cross-legged.
(?)
"
*
Fifty Mandarins prostrate.
(k)
(/) The French Gentlemen sitting with their Legs across.
"
(m) A little pair of Brick Stairs to go up to the Hall of Audience.
"
(u) The Wall whereunto this pair of Stairs is fixed."
It will be noticed that one European, Monsieur Constance (h),

was prostrate, like the Siamese officers. He was not a Frenchman,
but the famous Greek adventurer, Constantine Phaulkon, who had
1
gee Fig. 4.
entered the Siamese Service some years before, and succeeded in

rising to the position of the King's most trusted minister.
The gold vessel (Fig. 4) for the King's Letter, was of three stories.
This was in accordance with the custom by which a triple-storied
vessel was considered proper for the reception of the Letter of a king
of equal rank to the Siamese king, one of only two stories being allotted
to an inferior monarch.
The three window (a) were a modification introduced
steps below the
specially for La Loubere's embassy. It was the custom for the
ambassador to hand up the letter to the King by means of a gold
receptacle having a very long handle. De Chaumont, the previous
ambassador, had for some reason difficult to understand thought this
procedure derogatory to his dignity. He therefore held the vessel
itself, not the end of its handle, and this obliged the King to stoop
down, which he smilingly did, thereby showing a grace which seems

to contrast favourably with the gauche manner of the ambassador.
To guard against a repetition of this undignified scene the three steps
had been erected.
The proceedings at a State Audience were short and formal. A
prostrate secretary read a list of the foreign king's presents, the
portable part of which were arranged on the tables before the window.
The foreign king's letter was then presented in the manner above
described, after which the prostrate Brah Glah, his face nearly
touching the ground, read the translation. Then,

"
The King [through interpreters] made three customary and
formal questions. First Were the king and royal family of the foreign
:
country in good health ? Second Did the envoy have a good journey,
:
and how long did it take ? and Third Was the rainfall satisfactory
:
" 1
in the rainy season of his country, and were the people prosperous ?
The King expected only short replies. He disliked anything in the

nature of a harangue, and since the ambassadors were regarded only
as royal messengers, not as plenipotentiaries, there was really no
reason for a long discussion. An official gave the ambassadors a small
present of betel from the King. This offering of betel to the
ambassadors at various times, especially on arrival, long ago took the
place of the old Hindu custom of offering scented water, golden bowls,
and white cloth for ablution. 2 Other small presents such as umbrellas
and Siamese cloth were sent to the ambassadors'
residence, for they were
expected to dress in Siamese fashion during their stay. Immediately
after the presentation of betel, the audience terminated with the
1
Siamese Embassies to Europe, p. 16.
2 and Asiatic Quarterly Review, x.
Gerini, Impl.
ROYAL AUDIENCES 185
usual three obeisances, the King then

withdrawing to the accompani-
ment of a fanfare of trumpets.
Cheou Ta-kouan, who describes a royal audience in Cambodia at
the close of the thirteenth century, mentions that the King sat at a
golden window; but I think this must then have been a recent
innovation, for the History of tie Leang (502-56) remarks that
"when the king sits down he squats sideways, lifting the right
l
knee, letting fall the left knee to the ground,"
and in the Ankor

bas-reliefs the king is invariably shown seated in
this position on a low throne of Indian style.
During the stay of the ambassadors they were shown the various
sights of the city, especially the White Elephant, and the King usually
granted them one or more private audiences. These differed from
the State Audience mainly by reason of the fact that in them the
King was not seated in the window, but in the audience chamber
"in a wooden Tower joined to the Floor of the Hall, into which he
entered behind, and immediately, by a Step higher than the Hall." 2
Struys seems to describe a similar throne, although of gold, when

he says :
"
His supreme Throne is of massive Gold, made after the form
of a pyramid, and so contrived that none can see him ascend." 3
Possibly these thrones represent earlier forms of the tall Brali-dl-naii

Budtdn Don of the present day.
The ambassadors were also expected to pay their respects to the
Second King, who received them in the same way as had the Supreme
King, even asking the same formal questions. They had also to visit
the high officials of the country, and on all occasions had to present
gifts. A Audience of leave-taking took place after the
final State
conclusion of all business, and after this the ambassadors were
prohibited from moving about the city, and were expected to leave
immediately.
It was not the custom for the King to send a letter in return by
the hands of the foreign ambassadors. He always sent an embassy
of his own, if possible in his own royal ships. Such an embassy was
sent to Louis XIV, and again to Queen Victoria, but in these cases it
was impossible adhere to the custom of using a Siamese
strictly to
ship. A Siamese embassy consisted of three officers called respectively
1
Pelliot, BEFEQ. iii, 1903, p. 269.
2
L. L., p. 109.
3
The Voyages of John Struys, Eng. cd., 1684.
rajadut, ugadut, and tridut, the first being the ambassador proper,
but the fact that his title was never higher than brah indicates that
he was not considered a very important personage.
Several other considerations throw further light on the Siamese
conception of an embassy. The slowness and delays in completing
all the preliminary arrangements, as well as the loftiness of the
throne or audience window, the distant and reserved bearing of the

King, and his condescension in making presents to the ambassadors,
were all processes contrived to impress upon them the dignity and
power of the King. Again, it was a maxim of Siamese kings to receive
many embassies, but to send as few as possible. There was honour in
receiving an embassy, but, on the other hand, there was always present
the idea that the one who sent the first embassy was offering homage.
The very great store that was set upon the reception of the presents,
the King even sending secretaries on board the foreign ships to make
an inventory before the gifts were actually presented, indicates the
desire to regard them as tribute, if possible. This point of view was
not unnatural since the main object of British and Dutch embassies
to Siam and Burma was to ask for trade concessions, whereas the
Siamese and Burmese desired only to be left alone. Another
characteristic of the Siamese monarchs was their dislike of concluding
a treaty. While prepared to make promises, they did not like to
commit themselves to writing, an instinct of self-preservation, for they
were not ignorant of the growth of British power in India, and they
feared that they might sign away their sovereign rights.
It is hardly necessary to repeat that the difficulties experienced
by European ambassadors were entirely due to a mutual misunder-

standing. The Siamese system was well fitted to function in the way
it was intended, i.e. for intercourse with the neighbouring vassal
states, and with great China. There is a very interesting Sinhalese
account of an embassy from King Kirti Sri of Ceylon to the King
of Siam in 1750. 1 Buddhism at that time had fallen to very low estate
in Ceylon, and King Kirti Sri sent to ask that a delegation of Siamese
monks might be sent to improve matters. This was certainly a great
honour for the King of Siam, and the Sinhalese king was regarded
as being his equal. The result was that the ambassadors on returning
from their mission, which was successful, expressed their great
satisfaction at the kind treatment which they had received according
to etiquette, which was exactly on the lines which have been described
above.
1
Translated in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Ceylon Branch, vol. xviii,
No. 54, 1903.
ROYAL AUDIENCES 187
2. Audiences to Officials and Petitioners.
In the Laws of Maim, which have already been quoted in

Chapter IV, it will be remembered that one of the chief duties of
kings was to give audiences to ministers and officials and to hear

those who might wish to present petitions and we have also mentioned
;
that in the Coronation Audience the King promised to hear every

so far as opportunity might allow.
official Some of the audiences
of Old Siam were in the nature of secret councils, which might be
compared to the meetings of the modern Supreme Council of State,
and Gervaise describes King Narayana's audiences to his councillors
as follows :
"
After breakfast he goes into his Grand Council at eight o'clock
and stays there until noon. There in the Council is Monsieur de
Constance [Phaulkon the Greek adventurer], his first Minister, who
tenders him an exact and faithful account of the chief affairs of the
kingdom which need to be discussed. When he has finished, the King
goes over all that he has said in the presence of the mandarins, his
First Councillors of State, and asks their advice on these matters.
They all prostrate themselves on the ground, leaning only on their
elbows, unless they are excused keeping themselves in that posture
while in the presence of His Majesty. Each Mandarin prefaces his
remarks with a little compliment which he renders to the King
'
approximately in these terms Sire, since Your Royal and Divine

:
word has seen fit to descend upon me who am but filth and dust,
I place it respectfully on my head, and find in me the boldness to
tell Your Majesty what I think of the matter that You have
deigned
to discuss with me who am but Your slave.' After they have all
had their say, His Majesty then speaks giving his decision, unless
he allows them to reply again. If, during the discussion of the matter
in question, the King has noticed that some secret reason or private
interest has prevented one of his councillors from saying sincerely
and good faith what he really thinks, then he suspends judgment
in
until he knows that Minister's true feelings on the matter and, ;
in order that the persons shall not feel injured by knowing that the
Minister is being enquired about by His Majesty, the King sends
secretly, and unknown to the other councillors, to question that
minister on what he desires to know."
At eight o'clock in the evening the King again met his
councillors :
"
As he is accustomed to keep until the evening his decision on the
matters of greatest consequence which have been conveyed to him
in the morning, it is rare that anyone brings up new matter unless
it is very urgent, so that the councillors have time to think over the
morning's affairs during the day. This mooting of the councillors,

however, does not end before midnight." l
1
Gervaise, part iv, chap. 4, translation from the French (1684) by H. S. O'Neill,
Bangkok, 1928, pp. 116, 117.
A seventh century Chinese account of a meeting of royal councillors

in ancient Cambodia supplies us with the prototype of the above :
"
There were five classes of high officials when they appear before
;
the king they thrice touch the ground in front of the steps of the
throne. The king orders them to mount up the steps, and then they
kneel with their hands crossed over their shoulders. Then they sit
in a circle round the king for discussing state affairs. When the
meeting of the council is over, they kneel down again and take leave.
At the gate of the throne-room there are a thousand guards in armour
armed with lances." x
As to the presentation Cheou Ta-kouan wrote
of petitions, of the
procedure in thirteenth century Cambodia as follows :
"
Each day the king holds audience twice for the affairs of state.
The list is not restricted. or of the people who
Those of the officials
wish to see him sit on the ground and wait. After a while, one hears
distant music in the palace, and, outside, conches are blown as a
welcome to the king. An instant later one sees two palace girls draw
back the curtain, and the king, sword in hand, appears at the golden
window. Ministers and people joined their hands and lowered their
foreheads to the ground. When the noise had ceased they could
raise their heads. Following the pleasure of the king, they approached
to sit down. In the place where the petitioner might sit, there was
a lion's skin which was regarded as a royal emblem when the business;
was finished, the prince retired, the two palace girls let the curtain
2
fall, and everyone rose from the ground."
Gervaise gives rather a long account of this type of audience, which

shows that after a lapse of four centuries the procedure was practically
the same, though marked by a greater degree of servility on the part
of the petitioner. As he gives interesting details which further
illustrate the relations between the king and his subjects at that
time, it will be worth while to quote his account in extenso :
"
When he grants them an audience in his palace, it is always
from the embrasure of one of his windows. Before the shutters are
opened there are trumpets sounded to warn everybody that His
Majesty is about to appear, and everybody bows his head towards
the ground, and he who craves for an audience makes from a distance
three deep bows to His Majesty. Then he steps forward three paces,
to the spot that has been marked out for him. This position is always
some distance from the window, more or less according to the
superiority of the rank of the petitioner. When he arrives at this place
he must make another three similar bows and remain there prostrated
upon a mat or carpet, his hands clasped together and his head turned in
such a way that he cannot look into the King's face. An interpreter
by his side informs the great mandarin who is present, of the nature
of the matter which the petitioner wishes to bring up, and the Minister
or mandarin repeats this to the King, makes the three usual bows
1 *
C., p. 61. Pelliot, BEFEO.y loc. cit.
ROYAL AUDIENCES 189
and prepares his Majesty to listen, by the prefatory compliment which

'
he pays in these terms Sire, Your slave craves permission to speak.
:
He implores Your Majesty to suffer his unclean and defiled voice

to reach the doors of your divine ears.' The King motions to him to
speak, and after His Majesty has given the reply he thinks proper,
the petitioner thanks him by making three more bows which end
the audience. At this point a mandarin comes forward with a large
silver dish filled with rich materials or some rarities of the country,
of which a present is made on behalf of His Majesty to the one to
whom it has pleased him to grant an audience. As soon as he has
received them, the recipient puts them on his head to indicate the
high esteem in which he holds such a gift, and he prostrates himself
three times as he did on entering. The King then retires and the
window is closed. If he has already received from His Majesty a coat
or any other precious article, it is his duty to bring it with him to
this audience, for it is by the display he makes of such gifts that he
shows his gratitude and renders himself worthy of the continuation
of these liberalities. It is most important that everyone shall be
well prepared in what he shall say to His Majesty when he presents
himself for an audience, and that he shall remember it carefully,
for what is said there is written down in a record book which the
King takes the trouble to look over from time to time, and often when
one thinks least about it, he is pleased to question the same person
on the same matters on which he has formerly spoken, so that His
Majesty shall know if he is sincere and whether he may place
confidence in him." l
Gervaise then goes on to remark that audiences were sometimes

granted to petitioners at some place agreed upon outside the palace, for
political reasons. But the ceremonial was only a slight modification
of that in force at public audiences.
If any relic remains at the present day of these audiences to officials
and petitioners, it is to be found, I think, in the Court Levees held on
certain occasions, such as the King's birthday. I attended one of
these in the magnificent new Ananta Samagama Throne Hall, built
at enormous expense in Italian style. The ceremonial was entirely
European. The officials ranged themselves along the walls of the
marble hall of vast proportions, illuminated by innumerable
chandeliers, and decorated with splendid mural paintings representing
scenes in Siamese history, the work of Italian artists. The arrival
of the King, accompanied by the Queen, was heralded by the playing
of the National Anthem by a military band. Their Majesties, preceded
by a chamberlain carrying a wand of office, and accompanied by
ministers of State, slowly walked round the hall, here and there pausing
to exchange a few words with an official and inquiring as to the progress
1
Gervaise, translation from the French (1684) by H. S. O'Neill, Bangkok, 1928,
pp. 125-6.
of hiswork and his general well-being. Undoubtedly no one would

have thought of presenting a petition at such a time such a thing ;
would be unheard of. But nevertheless it seems to me that the Court

Levee, encased in western forms as it is, is the modern representative
of the ancient petitioners' audience, giving as it does the opportunity
for theKing to exchange a few words with officials whom he probably
never sees on any other occasions during the year.
There was still one other form of audience, perhaps the most
interesting of all, which I have reserved for the last. In the famous
stele of King Rama Gamheii of Sukhodaya we read :
"
In the entrance to the gate (of the palace) a bell is hung up ;
ifa subject of the realm has any trouble or any matter that distresses
him within or torments his heart, and which he wishes to declare to
his prince, there is no difficulty he has only to ring the bell that is
;
suspended there. Whenever King Kama Giimhen hears this appeal

he questions (the plaintiff) concerning his case (and decides it)
x
according to the right."
This audience bell persisted until much later times in Siam, even if
the call was not always answered and petitioners dared not to ring it ;
and it is mentioned in the classical Siamese work entitled Sip-sdn

Liam. It was known in Burma, and in Cambodia it lingered until
2
the nineteenth century, under Norodom. 3 In fact, it was common

to all the countries of the Orient it is even mentioned in the Thousand
and One Nights. But evidence that so far as Siam and Cambodia are
concerned it was probably derived from India is to be found in the
statement in the Mahdvamsa, that :
"At the head of his bed he had a bell hung up with a long rope
so that those who desired a judgment at law might ring it." 4
Whether
it was derived from India or
independently evolved by the
early Thai nomads, it is undoubtedly an extremely ancient institu-
tion. It seems to take us back to remote patriarchal days when the
king was indeed the father of his people and they were so few and their
complaints so rare that he could deal with them all in person.
These various opportunities for officials and oppressed subjects
to obtain access to the ear of their monarch must have been of consider-
able sociological importance in Old Siam. When high officers of
State and judges were corrupt, and justice as at present understood
was hardly known in Siam, it would obviously have a very salutary
1
Coedes, Les Inscriptions de Sukhodaya, p. 45.
a
m
An audience bell is mentioned a Burmese and Talaing inscription (A.D. 1621)
on such a bell, Burma Research Society, vol. xviii (1928), pt. i, pp. 21-34.
8
Gr., p. 338.
4
M. xxi, 15.
ROYAL AUDIENCES 191
effect on the overbearing nature of the great nobles for them to know
that any petty official might, if goaded too far, be led to try his luck
with a petition before the King, who, however great a tyrant he
himself might be, was the less likely to allow tyranny amongst his
nobles ; and, with the utter lack of proportion that characterized the
government of Old Siam, the noble lord might himself be exposed with
a cangue round his neck or be sent to cut grass for the royal elephants,
only to be reinstated a few days later to his high position, but with,
at least for a time, a very chastened outlook.
With the building up of a modern system of justice, with judges
and ministers who have been educated up to a higher sense of public
duty, still more perhaps through the publicity afforded by the open
law-court and the newspaper, the necessity to maintain the right
of petitioning the King has almost it is still
disappeared, though
resorted to in extreme cases.
The custom of prostration has frequently been mentioned above,
since it was formerly a most important and inevitable characteristic
of all intercourse between the subjects and the monarch of Siam. It
was officially abolished by King Rama V on the occasion of his Corona-
tion, but it still lingers voluntarily, and especially in connection with
the honouring of the relics and statues of past kings of the dynasty.
The idea of never looking up at the King but always keeping the face
parallel to the ground seems to be connected with that taboo mentioned
in Chapter IV whereby the people were supposed not to be able to
bear the radiance of the divine face. It has been suggested that the
custom might be connected with a desire to avert the " evil eye ", but
" "
I cannot find any evidence to show that the idea of the evil eye
ever existed in Siam. Apart from the aversion of the face, the bodily
prostration and the lifting of the joined palms is simply the servile
method of offering homage to a deity or a king which seems natural
to the Asiatic.
The following evidence indicates that the custom was not always
in force The seventh century Chinese chronicles, which have been
:
quoted above, speak of the councillors as sitting, not grovelling and ;
Cheou Ta-kouan in the thirteenth century mentions the same

phenomenon. Again, in the bas-reliefs at Ankor Vat, royal audiences
are depicted in which the officials are seated in an attitude considered
respectful in the East, but not prostrated in the modern way. The
same fashion was evidently customary at Pagan, Burma, as is shown
1
by the reliefs in the Ananda Temple. Relief No. 49 depicts King
1
Reproduced in Epigraphia Birmanica, vol. ii, part 2.
Janaka on his canopied dais at audience with his ministers who sit
with joined hands and feet concealed, while No. 33 shows a messenger
kneeling before the Bodhisattva Temiya. Coming lastly to Sukhodaya
although there is no certain evidence on the subject, it is doubtful if
such a great-hearted monarch as Rama Gaihhen, the spirit of whose
anxiety for the welfare of his subjects runs right through his famous
inscription, could have brought himself to enforce prostration.
I conclude, therefore, that prostration was a comparatively late
innovation in Indo -China, introduced by despotic monarchs not earlier
than the fourteenth century. When the last traces of a patriarchal
form ofgovernment had passed away, and fear was the chief support
of despotic rulers, prostrationhad great sociological value. King
Rama V, who had endeared himself to the hearts of his people while
yet a prince, was perhaps the first monarch since the rulers of Sukho-
daya who was strong enough to break through the old tradition.
CHAPTER XV
THE OATH OF ALLEGIANCE

One of the most important State Ceremonies from the point of
view of the upkeep of the established form of government in Siam
is undoubtedly the Drinking of the Water of Allegiance (bidhi srisdc-
cpdnkdn, or thtfnam) which is still celebrated on the same impressive

scale as has been since the days of the Cambodian Empire.
it
The detailed regulations for the manner of taking the Oath by the
various classes of officials arc described at length by King Kama V, 1
who rightly laid great stress on the proper carrying out of the ceremony.
The rites take place with great splendour twice yearly, on the third
day of the waxing of the fifth month (Chaitra), and on the thirteenth
day of the waning of the tenth month (Bhadrapada). The Drinking
of the Water takes place in the Chapel Royal in Bangkok, and also
in one temple in each seat of provincial government. The water is
previously hallowed in the usual way by the monks, who recite
mantras, the sacred sincana thread being stretched round the water-
vessels, while the Court Brahmans also dip into the water the State
Sword and other royal weapons, this being a rite of contagious magic,
by the power of which any official meditating treason would be
destroyed. It is said that persons have not infrequently in the past
died of cholera after drinking the hallowed water, a result which no
doubt did much to strengthen the general belief in the efficacy of the
magic. On the day of the ceremony a Brahman reads out the Oath,
and each official must drink the contents of a small cup, which he
must drain to the last drop. Any appearance of difficulty in swallowing
was, in the old days, considered as equivalent to an admission of
disloyalty. The ladies of the palace, as well as members of the royal
family, drink the Water of Allegiance, but, of course, with suitable
privacy. Officials confined to their houses through illness are not
excused from drinking the Water, but it is taken to their bedsides by
royal pages or other officials. The following is a translation of the
Oath of Allegiance made during the fourth reign, which I quote as

I have not been able to obtain access to the original but I understand
;
that it is substantially accurate apart from a few obviously antiquated

-expressions which I leave unaltered :
1
BRB., pp. 222 sqq.
193 o
SIAMESE STATE CEREMONIES
"
We, the slaves of the Lord Buddh, beg to offer to His Majesty
Prabaht Sorndetch Pra Chula Chaum Klow [i.e. King Riima IV]
the King, this our personal oath,
pledging our loyalty, in the immediate
presence of the god Buddh, the sacred teachings and the sacred priests.
We entreat the deity which protects the sectioned white Umbrella,
and the guardian deities of all other
places throughout the kingdom,
to observe with their godlike
eyes, and hear with their godlike ears,
the pledges we make to Prabaht Somdetch Pra Chula Chaum
Klow,
the King, who has been crowned and
placed upon the throne, and who,
observing the ancient royal usages, treats graciously the priests, the
ministers, and royal descendants, the official servants of His
Majesty,
military and civil, within and without, the provincial governors and
their subalterns, the rulers of
territories, states, and the entire
population living within His Majesty's dominions. Hence it is proper
that we gratefully perform our official duties, under His
Majesty's
feet faithfully, free from rebellious acts,
physical, verbal, mental.
If we, the slaves of our Lord Buddh, are not
firmly fixed in true national
gratitude, or if we meditate to His Majesty, Prabaht Somdetch, Pra
Chula Chaum Klow, the King, with
body, words or in disposition,
or if we disclose our minds to the
people or rulers of other regions
that are hostile, and plot that others do evil to Prabaht Somdetch
Pra Chula Chaum Klow, the King. If we see with our
eyes, hear with
our ears, or know that others are about to do evil to' His
Majesty,
but delay with evil intent, with ingratitude, and lack of
honesty ^
and with evil purposes toward Prabaht Somdetch Pra Chula Chaum
Klow, the King, who is full of great mercy and incomparable graciousness :
We pray the deities of lands and forests the guardian deities the
; :
atmospheric deities ; the goddesses who care for" the earth,

especially
the powerful deities who are located where is the
great white Umbiella,
emblem of royalty, may plague us with evil,
destroy our lives, effect
our destruction and death by
breakage, by severance cause our death
;
by lightning and thunderbolts, by royal weapons, the powerful royal

sword, by poison and the power of land and water animals ; let there
be some opportunity for the destruction of the
perfidious ones; let
swift destruction come; let us not
escape all great disasters and
consequences of all localities, which those who have the power can
inflict for all offences. We beseech the power of the deities to plague
with poisonous boils, rapidly fatal, and all manner of
diseases the
dishonourable, perverse, and treacherous, plague with
untimely,
wretched and appalling deaths, manifest to the
eyes of the world ;
when we shall have departed this life from earth, cause us to be sent
and all to be bom in the great hell, where we shall burn with
quench-
less fire for tens and hundreds of thousands of
ages and limitless
transmigrations; and when we have expiated our penalty there,
and are again born in any world, we
pray we may fail to find the
least happiness in worlds of let us not
pleasurable* enjoyments ;
meet the god Buddh, the sacred teachings, the sacred

priests, who
come to be gracious to animals, helping them
escape misery, reach
heaven and attain a cessation of births and deaths should we meet
;
them let them grant us no gracious assistance. If \ve remain

firmly
established in gratitude and
honesty, and do not meditate the rebellion
and evil that has been rehearsed, we
beg the land, the forest and
THE OATH OF ALLEGIANCE 195
the atmospheric deities, and the four great guardians of the world,
whose power extends to all the worlds of the gods, to the sacred
foundations, forces and rulers of powerful nations, and the deities
stationed in the great white Parasols of royalty, and the guardian
deities that protect His Majesty by night and by day, and the deities
that protect the palace, and the deities stationed to protect the twelve
royal treasures, and all the deities, the armories, and ministers and
great royal property we entreat you all to assist, and protect us who
;
perform all official duties faithfully grant us prosperity and happiness

;
in this and in other worlds cause us to escape all the diseases and
;
calamities that have been enumerated. We have received from

His Majesty this water, pledging ourselves, therefore cause us to
possess clear, unalloyed happiness, and to escape from all diseases
and maladies and grant us eminent prosperity, and brilliant, happy,
;
fruitful lives, prolonged into very great age and let us die in happiness
;
resembling sleep, with an awakening in the abode of the gods, in the

enjoyment of godlike possessions in heaven, for hundreds of thousands
of ages and limitless species of beings. When we die and
depart from
heavenly and god-like worlds to be born again in human worlds, let us
abound with goods, glorious and limitless possessions, and distinguished
attendants in accord with our desires. We entreat the Lord Buddh,
the sacred teachings, and the sacred priests, to grant the fulfillment
of our desires in the way of heaven, and escape from the successions
of life and death, and their attendant miseries,
together with our
l
fidelity and gratitude."
It is known
that the Ceremony of Drinking the Water of Allegiance
in the Ayudhya period was the same as that followed in Bangkok from
the first reign onwards, King Kama I having restored the ancient
usage on his accession 2 ;
and it is mentioned by La Loubere in the
seventeenth century. 3 There is no definite evidence for the practise
of the ceremony at Sukhodaya, 4 but it was
certainly in force in ancient
Cambodia. On the pillars of a portico near the Phimeanakas at Ankor
Thorn are engraved eight inscriptions containing the names of
numerous officials who swore allegiance to Suryavarman I, each
inscription being preceded by the Oath of Allegiance in Khmer, which
has been translated as follows :
"
In 933 c.E. (A.P. 1011) the 9th of the waxing moon of Bhadra
(August-September), Sunday. Here is the oath which we, belonging
to the body of tamrvac (lictors) of the first, second, third, and fourth
categories, swear all of us without exception, cutting our hands, and
offering our lives and grateful and stainless devotion to H.M. Sri
Suryavarmanadeva, who has been in complete enjoyment of
1
Siam, M. L. Cort, pp. 123 sqq.
2
BRB., p. 231.
3
L. L., p. 81.
4
The passage in Rama Gamhen's inscription,
supposed by Bradley (JSS., vol. vi,
pt. 2), to refer to this ceremony, has been shown by Coedes (Lee Inscriptions de
Sukhodaya, p. 47), to refer to an ordinary audience.
sovereignty since 92 C.E., in the presence of the sacred fire, the holy
jewel, the Brahmans, and the acaryas. We shall not honour any
other king, we shall never be hostile (to our king), we shall not be
the accomplices of any enemy, and we shall not seek to injure him
(our king) in any way. We pledge ourselves to perform all actions
which are the fruit of our grateful devotion towards His Majesty.
If there be war, we pledge ourselves to fight faithfully in his cause without
valuing our lives. We shall not fly from the battlefield. If we die
a sudden death, not in war, or even if we commit suicide, may we
obtain the reward due to the persons devoted to their lord. As our
lives are dedicated to the service of His Majesty up to the day of our
death, we shall faithfully do our duty to the king, whatever may be
the time and circumstances of our death. If there be any affair, for
which His Majesty orders us to go abroad, to learn everything about
it, If all of us, who arc here in person,
we shall seek to know it in detail.
do not keep to oath of allegiance to His Majesty, may he reign
this
long yet, we ask that he may inflict punishments of all sorts on us.
If we hide ourselves, to escape carrying out the oath, may we be
reborn in the thirty- two hells as long as there is the sun and moon.
If we carry out loyally our promise, may His Majesty give orders for
the upkeep of the pious foundations of our country, and for the
maintenance of our families, as we are devoted followers of our lord
H.M. Sri Suryavarmanadeva who has been in complete possession
of the sacred royalty since 924 C.E., and may we obtain the reward
l
due to faithful servants in this world and in the next."
M. Coedes has remarked upon the similarity of this oath to the

one still taken by officials at the Court at Phnompenh, there being,
after a lapse of nearly a thousand years, little difference between the

two other than the substitution of Buddhist terms for Brahmanical.
Though we have thus adequate material for tracing the history
of the Siamese Oath back to Khmer times, we have no direct evidence
as to the nature of the actual ceremony in ancient Cambodia. Never-
theless, there is reason to suppose that the ceremony
was very much
the same then as it is to-day, both in Bangkok and Phnompenh, because
it seems very probable that it was derived from one of the forms of
water ordeal practised in ancient India :
"
To whatsoever deity the accused happens to be devoted let
(the judge) bathe the weapon of that deity in water,
and give him
to drink three handfuls of it. He to whom no calamity happens,
within a week or a fortnight, (either to himself or) to his son, wife or
a
property, is innocent beyond doubt."
Coedes, "Etudes Cambodgienncs," BEFEO., t. xiii.

1
8
Brihaspati, x, 23-4, in SBE., vol. xxxiii, p. 318.
In the Siamese version of
the Ramayana it is recorded that Pipek, brother of Ravana, on going over to Rama,
was made to drink water, in which Rama's weapons had been dipped, and to pray
that it might destroy him should he break his oath. (Bastian, Reisen in Siam,
pp. 518 sq.)- But this may be a late interpolation.
THE OATH OF ALLEGIANCE 197
In analysing the functional value of the Ceremony of Drinking

the Water of Allegiance, several features of the Siamese Oath are of
special importance. These are :
(1) The substitution of Bhuddhist for Brahmanical terms (as

compared with the early Khmer Oath).
(2) The introduction of a large number of animistic phrases,
reference to guardian spirits, etc. (as compared with the early Khmer
Oath).
(3) The greater detail in which the torments of the disloyal in
future existences are described (as compared with the early Khmer
Oath).
(4) The Oath
is not entirely negative in either Siamese or early
Khmer It finishes up in a brighter vein, with reference to
forms.
the rewards with which loyal officials may hope to be recompensed.
All these features have great bearing on the efficacy of the Oath,
an efficacy which it retains at the present day. The very essence of
the sociological value of such an oath and its accompanying water
ordeal is that it is founded on fear, the emotion which is best developed
in the subjects of barbaric kings. Now it would be going too far to
say that the spirit of loyalty, as we understand it, never existed in

Indo-China. It probably did. But that was before divine kingship
reached such extreme elevation that it knew no limits to its power,
and came to regard the people as mere chattels. Certain it is that
any such spirit of loyalty, founded on the higher human emotions,
passed away from Siam many centuries ago, and in the steady efforts
of the educational and other government departments to reintroduce
it, efforts which date from the memorable occasion on which King
Rama V first told his courtiers that they might stand in his presence,
the people see an entirely new idea introduced from the West. In
the ancient Khmer Oath we seem to have the oath of men who
understood the meaning of the word patriotism, and whose loyalty
was founded on higher motives than fear. It is still a long way removed
from the Western idea of a man's word of honour being an all-sufficient
oath, but the more restrained terms in which the damnation of the
disloyal is described, and the absence of invocations of demons and
spirits, the king himself being looked to for the punishment of traitors
in this world, implies a peoplewith some degree of self-respect. I do
not mean to suggest that in the later centuries of the Khmer Empire
the people were any less oppressed than were the Siamese of the
Ayudhya period but their Oath seems to indicate that they retained
;
some of the forms, if not the memories, of early patriarchal days.

With the growth of tyranny in Siam in the Ayudhya period, and the
substitution of the milder religion of Buddha for Brahmanism, came
the necessity to increase the efficacy of the Oath and that was done
;
by the elaboration of the details of the punishment and the introduction

of the animistic phrases. Whoever was responsible for this introduc-
tion, if it was any one person, must have been a keen student of
human nature. Kings were often too sunken in debauchery to wield
in person the powers which their more vigorous forefathers had gained
for them, Brahmanism was almost dead, Buddhism was perhaps as
yet imperfectly understood by the masses, and though its hells make
every conceivable provision for the discomfort of the damned, there
were doubtless then as now, in Siam as in every other country, people
who were ready enough to sell their souls to problematical devils in
the next world, in return for the enjoyment of certain power and riches
in this one. But there were still the phi the elusive and dangerous
:
spirits of the White Umbrella, of the Royal Weapons, and the guardian
spirits of the city, who were
jealous for the welfare of the king, not
to mention the lesser sprites of house, garden, tree, and stream. They
brought retribution swiftly, as any man could aver who had seen his
neighbour smitten down with cholera in a single night. The belief
in the power of phi is still very strong
amongst nearly all classes of
Siamese how much more so must it have been amongst the ignorant
;
and superstitious officials of Old Siam. It was this invocation of the
spirits, then, that made the Oath of Allegiance such an effective
support to Absolute Monarchy. Complementary to the fear aroused

by this invocation, though far less important, was the last feature
on our list. A slender hope is held out that the spirits would reward
dutiful subjects for their loyalty. They seldom did, but a hope,
however slender, of material rewards in this world, was probably a
greater incentive to loyalty than anything that Buddhism could
offer in the next.
The text of such an Oath as this docs not reflect much credit upon
the type of society that requires to use it, the more so as there is here
no question of merely keeping up an old custom out of respect for
ancient tradition. Drinking the Water of Allegiance is in Siam to-day
definitely a powerful instrument for the support of the established
form of government, and so long as a considerable
percentage of
superstitious, and half -educated, officials remain in the service, some
of whom are not entirely disposed to turn a deaf ear to the alluring
slogans of communism, so long will Siam be well advised to refrain

from attempting to substitute a simpler and nobler form of Oath.
CHAPTER XVI
THE ROYAL BOUNTY
(a) TULABHARA l
It has already been remarked that from the earliest historical

times in India it has always been one of the foremost duties of kings
to protect the established religion, and to confer lavish gifts upon the
priesthood. In the days when the Brahmans were supreme it was,

of course, to them that such gifts had to be made, and one of the most
magnificent occasions on which this royal bounty was displayed was
at the ceremony of Tuldbliara. At this ceremony, which was well
known in India and is still practised in Travancore, the king, and
sometimes the queen, were weighed in a balance (tula) against gold or
which was given to the Brahmans.
silver,
Tuldbhara, despite the fact that the Brahmans had long ceased
to be of much account in Siam, was performed at Ayudhya in the
ninth lunar month (Sravana), but fell into disuse in the middle of the
eighteenth century. It was performed in the royal anointment
pavilion (brah-di-ndn mangaldbhiseka), in the middle of which was

placed a balance surrounded by curtains. The King went thither in
a grand procession, riding on a palanquin, and accompanied by the
Brahmans, nobles, and the first four ministers of State walking in
pairs. The Queen, also seated on a palanquin, was accompanied by
the wives of the astrologers (hora) and grus, and the wives of the first
four ministers, in pairs. They made nine pradaksina circuits of the
pavilion, and then the King entered the curtained enclosure. The
Master of Ceremonies stood in front of the pavilion, the palace ladies
sat outside the curtains, while the four grits and the first four ministers
of State sat inside the curtains. Of the latter, the Brali Gldh held the
State Sword (brah kharga) ;
the Baladeba held a guitar ;
the Van
held betel-flowers and the Yamaraja held a standard of victory.
;
One official blew a conch, another beat the big drum, another played
the cymbals, and yet another beat the palace drum. The King mounted
the right hand pan of the balance. In the left pan were placed the
royal gifts, equivalent to the King's weight. Thus the King was
weighed, and after him the Queen and the royal alms were given
;
to the Brahmans. Then the procession returned, and there was a

1
Sources : BRB., p. 535 ; KM. ; HV. (not mentioned in NN.).
199
"
great feast, in the course of which it was said the left is silver, the
in which
right gold ", evidently with reference to the royal weighing,
is
the royal gifts were silver, but the King was gold.
(b) D6T KATHINA
1. The Significance and Function of the Ceremony.

We now proceed to study the Eoyal Bounty as displayed for the
benefit of the Buddhist monks, which remains to the present day one
of the most important and most flourishing of all Siamese State
Ceremonies. Dot Kathina, which in its general sense means the laying
down of robes for the monks, is a purely Buddhist observance, and is
the only purely Buddhist festival which I deal with in this book.
There are other important annual Buddhist feasts, such as (1) VaisaJcha-
pujd, in the sixth lunar month, which commemorates
the Birth,
Enlightenment, and Death of the Buddha (2) Khau Barsd, in the eighth
;
month, the beginning of the Buddhist retreat, and (3) Mdgha-pujd,

held on full moon day of the third month, to commemorate the
exposition of the Pratimoksa made on that day by the Buddha to his
1,250 disciples of the four congregations while the full moon period
;
of this month is also largely taken advantage of by the people for

pilgrimages to the Brah-pdda, the sacred footprint of Buddha in the
hills near Labapuri. But all these, although they are under royal
protection, and the King is himself present at some of the religious
services, listens to sermons and makes offerings to the priests, are
not primarily royal ceremonies. They are popular ceremonies, and
as such belong to a study of Siamese Buddhism. This may be the
better realized when it is remarked that similar ceremonies continue
to exist in Ceylonand Burma, where the kingship has passed away
and the European government takes no active part in the proceedings.
On the other hand, although it is important to remember that the
King of Siam protects all Buddhist only in the Royal
activities, it is
Kathina that he takes a
predominant part, a part eminently
characteristic of the traditional Buddhist monarch. Indeed, the
sociological value of the Royal Kathina for the maintenance of social
integrity and the continued prosperity of the Buddhist religion in

Siam exceeded by no other ceremony, for the following three
is
reasons (1) the King, by the lavishness of his gifts

: and his personal
profession of faith at the altar, impresses upon the people in a truly
regal way his belief in the national religion, and thus the love and
respect which the people have for their monarch (2) the example
;
THE ROYAL BOUNTY 201
of the King inspires the people with a desire to emulate his generosity,
and by the Kathinas of nobles and private persons which take place
on a smaller scale* all over the country, every monastery is provided
for and the growth of the Buddhist religion is stimulated (3) the Royal ;
Kathina processions by land and by water are almost the only occasions,
other than the Coronation, on which the people can see their monarch
pass by in the pomp and circumstance of Old Siam. While the State
Processions on these occasions are not so magnificent as those which
take place at the Coronation, yet I think they are of greater sociological
value, for they take place, not once in a life-time, but every year, and
the volume pf the crowds that line the route can leave no doubt as
to the great hold which royal pageantry still exercises over the minds
of the people. Indeed, it is above all the frequency and regularity of
these occasions which give them such great value.
1
2.
Description of the modern Royal Kathina.
The period of the annual presentation of Kathina robes is from the
middle of the eleventh month (Asvina or Asvayuja) until the middle
of the following month (Karttika), i.e. October-November, the rains
having then practically finished, and the Buddhist Retreat being at

an end. There are four classes of Kathina (1) Kathina Hlrnh, the King's
:
Kathina (2) Kathina Cau, the Prince's Kathina (3) Kathina Khun-wdn,
; ;
the nobleman's Kathina ;

and (4) Kathina Br'ai, the people's Kathina.
During the above-mentioned period, processions of one or another
class of Kathina are to be seen every day. When I lived near the
river bank, some miles above Bangkok, I used to see the gaily decorated
boats of the Kathina Brai, with bands playing and everyone in the
highest spirits and dressed in his best and brightest garments,
passing up and down the river, and there were often two or three such
processions in one day. I have also been present on two occasions
at a nobleman's Kathina (that of the former Lord Chamberlain), and
on one occasion at a Kathina Cdu (that of Prince Dhani Nivat). I have
also several times watched the King's Kathina processions, on land
and water, though it was not possible for me to be present in the
Temple during the ceremony, as I was in the case of the other Kathinas.
But apart from the fact that the King's Kathina is accompanied by
greater dignity, and is not turned into a popular feast by the donor
of the gifts for the benefit of his friends, there is little difference in
1
It has been suggested to me that in Old Siam these processions had another
important function. It was in similar processions of barges that warlike expeditions
used to go down to attack places like Nagara Sri Dharmaraja, and the annual Kathinas
gave the men valuable naval training.
the actual ceremonies within the temple, for Buddhism demands

equal humility from all its devotees, whether king or coolie, and the
King makes the same profession of faith when presenting the robes
as does the humblest of his subjects.
The principal monasteries in the city and suburbs are designated
Vat Hlvah, that is, Koyal Monasteries. These are under the special
protection of the King, and expect to receive their Kathina gifts from
him. But there are so many of them that it would make too great a
demand on the King's time to visit them all, and so nobles are appointed
to represent him at the more distant ones. Some of the royal Vats
are visited by the King by state carriage, or nowadays by motor-car.
These Kathina s take place with or no show, and are of no great
little
interest. I shall therefore confine myself to considering those great
Royal Kathinas which take place with the pomp of Old Siam. One
of these takes the form of a procession by land, in the course of which
the King visits the most important monasteries of the capital, Vat
Brah Jetavana, Vat Pavaranivesa, and Vat Rajapabitra. As has been
mentioned in Chapter VII, the Royal Coronation Progresses have
adopted the features of Kathina, the Progress by Land having lost its
original significance as a pradaksina circumambulation, and the
Progress by Water having been added in analogy to the Water Kathina.
I shall therefore only note the main differences between the Kathina
Procession and the Coronation Progress.
The order of procession at the last Land Kathina (Kathina Pak)
that I witnessed (14th October, 1930), was somewhat as follows
(PI. XXX) :
2 MILITARY GUARDS W
eL*
p
Numerous units of modern troops, representative of all arms,
S j * j **J
7| P and i
military bands
i
3 s-
& ô"
jj 2 THE ROYAL PARTY g
5
j O A Nobleman A Nobleman ^?
|-g *j Flag Mag g |
OD c
K A Nobleman A Nobleman J 5
"o Drum Major |
5
| | g
g g
Metal Drum Metal Drum 3 ? JT
g g Players of Ceremonial Instruments 2,

^
3 3
J J
"g
s
*
Bearers of Royal Weapons

Wo*
g g ^
g
J3 The King on a Palanquin ; Sunshade, Umbrella, and Fan

'
W
|.
g "3 | Bearers of Royal Insignia SL IT
,3 .o EH The King's offerings to Religion on a State Palanquin H d 2

6 82 I i-8*
State Chargers ^
>g
JgW H.R.H. the Prince of Nagara Svarga, mounted g*
: Hunykok TiHtr* Prf**, LfiJ.
TliK KlNU AKBIVTNO AT A VAT ON THJE OCCASION OF A

LANI> KAT IIIXA.
\ To face jutjje ^02,
Pr.ATE XXXI.
:>
r* :*-iS'ar*^
KOYAL BARGK TAKINCS PAKT IN A KATHINA

There is little that, calls for special notice in this procession, since
it is made up which have already been considered in
of elements
some and which are characteristic
detail in connection with Coronation,
of all royal processions. But the Kafhina is naturally on a smaller
scale, although sufficiently impressive. The main difference which
I noticed between this and similar processions in the last reign was
the absence of the Mahhatlek, abolished by the present King. In
Old Siam such processions were swelled by the presence of numerous
princes, each carried on a palanquin and surrounded by his own
retinue bearing his insignia of rank. It is also to be noticed that
the King wears plain white military uniform with plumed helmet,
whereas in Old Siam he wore full monarchical dress and the Kafhina
Crown, which is now seen only in Coronation Progresses. The innova-
tionis not a
happy one, and strikes one as most incongruous, affecting
as does the central feature of the Royal Party.
it
The last Water Kathin a (Kafhina Nam) which I witnessed took place
on the next day, 15th October, 1930, when the King visited Vat
Arun, in accordance with old custom. Palace guards were drawn
up at the landing-stage in front of the palace, and when the King
arrived by motor-car the military band blared forth the National
Anthem. The King was escorted down the jetty, beneath a royal
umbrella, and embarked in a pavilion barge, accompanied by a number
of noblemen. There was also a reserve pavilion barge for use on the
return journey. It is interesting to note that on the occasion of
Kathinas the King does not himself ride in a brah-dl-ndn barge, which
supreme honour is reserved for the King's offerings to religion
(PI. XXXI) and ;
in the
Kafhina procession all the state barges are
quite plain gilded structures without figure-heads, the great Haiisa
and Naga barges being reserved for the Coronation. There were a
number of drum barges and escort barges, but probably the whole
number did not exceed thirty, whereas in the old days there were as
many as 150 to 200, this number including those of numerous princes
and nobles, whose rank was indicated by the varying degree of
magnificence of the barges.
When the King reaches a Vat at which it has been arranged that
he should present the palanquin, in the case of a Land Kafhina,
gifts,
is drawn up against a flight of
steep brick steps, the King alighting
and proceeding on foot to the temple between the files of a of guard
honour, while the military band plays the National Anthem, in
opposition to the blowing of the ceremonial conches. The path to
the temple is carpeted with matting to walk
exclusively for the King
upon. In the case of a Water Kathina the
King alights similarly at
the riverside landing of the temple. In Old. Siam the handrail of

the landing was wound with white cloth, as a sign that the landing
might not be passed by any Siamese subject in a standing posture, or
with covered head. Hence all boatmen rowing their boats standing,
in gondola-like fashion, had to go down on their knees, just as they
had to do before the palace, as a sign that the temple-landing was,
for the time being, the King's landing.
3. The Ceremony in the Temple. 1
On leaving the palanquin or barge, as the case may be, the King
walks to the uposatha, or temple proper, and at the door takes one
complete set of monk's robes from the hands of the official who is
holding them, and then enters the temple. At the far end of the temple
the great image of Buddha is seated on the decorated and illuminated
altar, and the monks are seated in rows at the upper end. The King
places the set of robes on a table specially prepared for the purpose,
on which are five golden vases of flowers, five golden dishes of parched
corn, five golden candlesticks with their candles, and five incense
sticks. The number five represents the five Buddhas of the present
world cycle, Gautama Buddha, the three Buddhas who preceded
him, and the future Buddha, Maitreya.
The King then pays homage before the image three times with
joined palms, each time repeating the Pali salutation to the Buddha,
"
Namo tassa bhagavato, arahato sammd sambuddhasa." The Abbot
then lifts his fan and holds it before his eyes, so that he may not be
distracted, and thrice repeats the same The King then
salutation.
proceeds formally to offer the robes to the priests, and the monks
" "
signify their acceptance, Sadhu, Sadhu ! and the Abbot addresses
the fraternity as follows :
"
This phd kathina has been given to us by His most illustrious
Majesty the King, who being endued with exceeding goodness and
righteousness, has condescended to come hither himself, and present
these garments to us, a company of Buddhist Priests, without
designating any particular person by whom they shall be worn ;
but leaving it for us as a company, to decide who of us is most in

need, and who of us has attained to the fifth degree of Anisan$a
(fruitfulness in holy living), and who of us practise the eight rules
of Matikd (priestly etiquette)."
1
There is a description of the Ceremony in the Temple at Royal Kathinas in the
Bangkok Calendar for 1863, but most of it is unreliable, being very elaborate, whereas
the Royal Kathina ceremony is, in fact, very simple. For the information in this
section I am mainly indebted to my friend Braky a Prijanusasana,
The Abbot divides *the robes in the King's presence, and the King
makes a few other miscellaneous presents as well as special suits
of robes for those monks who have distinguished themselves in the
Pali language. The monks then pronounce a short form of partita,
as follows :
"
AtireJca vassasatam jivatu,
diyhdyuko hotu, arogo hotu, sukhito
hotu ; siddhi kiccam, siddhi kammam,
siddhi labho, jayoniccam
(Paramindara) Mahdrdjavarassa bhavatu sabbadd. Kho thawdi phra :
phon."
The last sentence is Siamese, and the whole has been translated as
follows :
"
May you live over one hundred years in the fullness of vigour, free
from disease and happy may all your wishes be fulfilled, all your
;
works accomplished, all advantages accrue to you may you always ;
triumph and succeed, Parammdra (the King's name), august

Sovereign. May it be so forever ! We beg to tender (to you) this
x
blessing."
The King then again pays homage before the image and leaves the
temple. He spends about half-an-hour in each Vat.
4. The Royal Kafhina in the Seventeenth Century.
evident that the European travellers and missionaries who

It is
visited Siam during the seventeenth century were just as forcibly

struck by the splendour of the Kathina processions at Ayudhya as is
any modern observer. Tachard, Schouten, and Kaempfer all make
mention of them, though the latter, who writes of Ktimbac (Kathina
Pak) and Ktinam (Kathina Nam), confuses the latter with the ceremony
of "Speeding of the Outflow". 2 But the best description of a
seventeenth century Kathina procession, as well as the earliest, is that
of van Vliet, who was in charge of the Dutch East India Company's
interests in Siam from 1629 to 1634, in the reign of King Prasada
Don. 3 The account of the Water Procession is not specially interesting,
except for tbe large number of barges (350 to 400) and of persons
(20,000 to 25,000) which he states took part in it. This is probably
no great exaggeration, for in those days Ayudhya was very rich, and
the king's outward show of magnificence was of the utmost social
importance and we must not forget that the queens and members
;
of the harem accompanied the king in their barges.
1
Ge (1), p. 115.
*
Kaempfer, History of Japan, 1690-2, reprint of Scheuchzer's English translation,
1906, vol. p. 72.
i,
3
Van Vliet, Description of the Kingdom of Siam, Leyden, 1692, translated into
English in JSS., vol. vii, 1910, pt. i, pp. 23-6.
On the other hand, van Vliet's description of the Kathina Pak is

of great importance and interest because we know from the Siamese
Annals that the Land Kathina was not established in Ayudhya until
the reign of King Prasada Don, that is not prior to 1630, so that van
Vliet must have witnessed some of the earliest of these land processions.
To anyone who is acquainted with the topography of Ayudhya, with
itsnetwork of canals and absence of roads, it is easy to understand

why the earlier Kathina processions had always been by water. Indeed,
the temples as well as the houses of the people were all situated along
the banks of the waterways, and were most naturally approached by
boat. The Thai were an amphibious people, and still are, in the
neighbourhood of Ayudhya and other riverine towns. In the early
days Bangkok the same conditions prevailed, and the sole means
of
of communication by land was by means of narrow muddy lanes,
ill-suited toa royal procession. But in the later period of Ayudhya's
history, just as in later times in Bangkok, better thoroughfares were
made and temples were built which could be easily approached by
land. Thus the Kathina Pak came into being, and was probably
modelled on the Coronation pradaksina procession, which was a very
ancient institution, and was always possible, even at Ayudhya, on
account of the flat open space which surrounded the city wall. On
the other hand, we have seen that the Coronation Progress by Water
is a late addition of the Bangkok period, in analogy to the Kathina Nam.
Van Vliet mentions that there was, in his time, only one Royal
Kathina by land, but many by water which took place at the end of
October or in the beginning of November. His description of the
land procession, which he says was not every year arranged in the
same way, is of sufficient interest to be quoted in extenso, and is as
follows :
"
First come in stately order going from the palace to the principal
temple called Nappetat [Na Brah Dhatu] about 80 or 100 elephants >
which are sumptuously decorated. On each of these elephants is
seated, besides two armed men, a mandarin in his gilded little house
having in front of him a golden basin containing cloth and presents
for the priests. Then follow 50 to 60 elephants, on each of which
are sitting 2 to 3 men, each of whom is armed with bows and arrows.
After this come, also seated on elephants, the 5 to 6 greatest men of
the kingdom, some of them wearing golden crowns but each with
box or any other mark of honour given to
his golden or silver betel
him by the king. They are accompanied by their suites of 30 to 60
men afoot. Following those come 800 to 1,000 men armed with pikes,
knives, arrows, bows and muskets and also carrying many banners,
streamers and flags. Among these armed men are mixed about 70
or 80 Japanese who are gorgeously dressed and carry excellent arms.
THE KOYAL BOUNTY 207
The musicians who follow the soldiers play on pipes, trombones, horns
and drums and the sound of all these instruments together is very
melodious. The horses and elephants of the king are adorned copiously
with gold and precious stones and are followed by many servants
of the court carrying fruits and other things to offer. Many mandarins
accompany these servants. Then follow on foot with folded hands
and stooping bodies (like everyone who rides or walks in front of the
king) many nobles, among them some who are crowned. Then comes
the red elephant decorated very nicely with gold and precious stones.
Behind this elephant follow two distinguished men, one of them
carrying the royal sword and the other one the golden standard,
to which a banner is attached. A gilded throne follows after them
showing how former kings used to be carried on the shoulders of the
people, and then follows His Majesty sitting on an elephant and wearing
his royal garments and his golden crown of pyramidal shape. He
is surrounded by many nobles and courtiers. Behind His Majesty
comes a young prince, the legal child of the supreme king, who at
present is eleven years old. The king's brother, being the nearest
to the throne, follows then with great splendour, and seated on
elephants in little closed houses come after this the king's mother,
the Queen and His Majesty's children and the concubines. Finally
many courtiers and great men on horseback, and 300 to 400 soldiers
who close the procession. Altogether about six or seven thousand
persons participate in this ceremony, but only his Majesty, his wives,
his children, his brother, the four highest bishops and other priests
enter the temple. Having stayed inside the temple for about two
hours the king and the whole splendid train return to the palace in
the same order as here described. The streets are very crowded with
people from the palace to the temple, but everyone is lying with
folded hands and the head bent to the earth. It is forbidden to
anyone to look at the king's mother, his wives or children, and the people
turn their faces when the royal family passes. Only strangers or
I
foreign ambassadors are allowed to look at them."
There are a few points in the above description which call for
comment, as follows :
(1) The presence of a red (white ?) elephant in the procession, and

of war elephants, on one of which the king was mounted. Elephants
were much prized in the Ayudhya period because of their use in war,
and hence took part in royal processions just as modern artillery
does nowadays and they were also considered as mounts most suited
;
to the royal dignity, from very early times, and also were no doubt
the most practical means of transport through the muddy lanes of
Ayudhya. But now that their military value has gone they have
completely disappeared from the streets of Bangkok, except on certain
special occasions. One, for example, sometimes appears in the pro-
cession of the Swinging Festival. But neither ordinary elephants,
1
Van Vliet, loc. cit.
nor the white elephants, which are still maintained in Bangkok, ever
take part in the Kathina.
Japanese settled in large numbers in Siam during the reign
(2)
of King Ekadas*aratha (1605-10), and the Japanese bodyguard, of
which van Vliet speaks, was instituted by that king. But shortly
after van Vliet's time, in 1632, all Japanese were either massacred or
expelled from Ayudhya by King Prasada Don, who regarded their

1
presence with apprehension.
(3) In the Bangkok period, queens and palace ladies have ceased
to accompany the royal Kathina.
(4) Van Vliet's statement that the streets were crowded with
people certainly inaccurate, as we know from many other sources
is
that right up to the time of Kama IV the people were confined behind
wicker fences during a royal progress. Van Vliet's remark on the
conduct of the people during a Kathina Nam is interesting, however.
He says :
"
Along the whole way which His Majesty passes, the houses,
monasteries and temples are closed with mats, and nobody is allowed
to stay in them in order that nobody may look at the king from a
place higher than that of His Majesty."
Evidently the houses all along the river bank had to be completely
evacuated, as a person even lying prostrate on the ground floor of a
house near the river might very well be higher than the position of
the king in his barge and I observed at King's College, a two-storied
;
building on the river bank, some miles above Bangkok, that the
students were not allowed to remain on the upper floor when the
King was passing in his motor launch.
5. The Early History of the Kathina.

In the days of the Buddha, the tradition is that the ascetic monks
refused all offers of new robes and dressed themselves only in such
rags as they found in graveyards which they stitched together into

the semblance of a robe and they preferred a dirty yellow colour,
;
for such was the colour of the dress of robbers and outcasts. In later
times, even in Siam, there may have been ascetic monks who still
followed this ancient practice, and then arose the custom of wrapping
dead bodies in many unnecessary shrouds, for it was believed that
by getting the monks to accept these robes, much merit would accrue
to the dead person. This custom still survives, and in Royal Crema-
tions it accounts for the Satdpakarana Rite.
1
Wood, History of Siam, 1926, pp. 159 and 176.
In later days, whe.n monks had adopted more luxurious habits,

they accepted perfectly new robes dyed yellow, but to maintain
the semblance of the old asceticism the new robes had to be made
from a number of pieces of cloth patched together, and so that too
great care should not result in too well-made a garment, the monk's
robe had, and still has, to be made in a single day and a night. The
"
old meaning of the words Dot Kathina is "to lay down a pattern in
order to cut patchwork by it. The pattern is the kathina which in t
ancient times the monks of Buddha used in cutting their cloth in

patches, to be sewed together to make their outer and inner robes.
The cloth was cut with a knife, because it was considered sinful to
tear it.But now the monks do not have to make their robes them-
selves, since the laymen save them the trouble, and although they
do not use the kathina as an aid to cutting the patches, but do it by
eye, the work still retains the name, which,
as we have seen, is
also applied to the whole ceremony. The effect of this modification
of old custom, which took place many hundred years ago, has resulted
in the elevation of the monks from their former humble position, but
it also has great value in providing one of the chief methods by which
the laymen, and above all the King, can make merit and show their
regard for religion in a practical way.
The inscription of King Rama Garnhen, A.D. 1293, gives the
following important reference to Buddhism in general and Kathina
in particular:
"
The inhabitants of Sukhodaya are given to alms, to the
observance of the precepts and to charity. King Rama Gamhen,
sovereign of Sukhodaya, as well as the princes and princesses, men
and women, nobles and chiefs, all without exception, without
distinction of rank or sex, practise with devotion the religion of
Buddha and observe the precepts during the rainy season retreat.
At the end of the rainy season there take place the Kathina ceremonies
which last a month. During these ceremonies they make offerings
of heaps of money, heaps of areca, heaps of flowers, and of cushions
and pillows. The offerings made each year amount to two millions.
They conduct Kathina ceremonies as far as the monastery of Arannikas,
yonder, and when they return to the city, the procession stretches
from the monastery of Arannikas to the border of the plain. There
everyone prostrates himself while the lutes and guitars resound and
hymns and chants are played. Whoever likes to play, plays ;
whoever likes to laugh, laughs ; whoever likes to sing, sings." l
Thus, though we have few details, it appears that the Kathina

was an established institution in Rama Gamhen's time ;
but we know
that it cannot have been so for long, since it was only in the thirteenth
1
Coed6a, Les Inscriptions de Sukhodaya, p. 45.
century that Hinayanism was firmly established in the young State

of Sukhodaya (although it had been established considerably earlier
in the neighbouring State of Lambun), and the very mention of it in
this inscription (it is, so far as I know, mentioned in no later ones)
indicates that the King was very proud of a custom which he, in all
probability, had himself introduced.
Further evidence in support of this is provided by King Kama IV
"
in an article called Origin of Vat Visitations ", published post-
humously in the Siam Repository. 1 The author evidently bases
his conclusions on some information derived from the Northern
Annals to the effect that the Kathina was introduced somewhat
in present form in the reign of Brah Rvan, a name applied
its
indiscriminately to most of the rulers of Sukhodaya, but more

particularly to Rama Gamhen. He states that at that time the
royal Vats were visited in the season of the full moons of October
and November by the royal barges, containing baskets of cloths
and baskets of food with branches placed in the centre of them, on
which were suspended lanterns and strips of yellow cloth, the latter
apparently in memory of less abundant times when the monks were
obliged to search for rags on cremation grounds. The procession by
water apparently took place at night, and the king was accompanied
by nobles and palace ladies. He was received by the monks at each
Vdi and they let off fireworks in his honour, and the people gave
themselves up to amusements.
But though, so far as Siam is concerned, the Kathina originated
in the thirteenth century when Hinayanism had obtained Royal
Patronage, nevertheless it is undoubtedly an extremely ancient
ceremony in the older Buddhist countries. In Burma it bas flourished

since an early period as a state ceremony under the name Kateindaw
Pwe. 2 Regulations for the Kathina ceremony are laid down in
the Mahavagga, and in the Buddha's day, even if the Kathina
ceremony as we know it had not yet taken shape on account
of the early asceticism of the monks which obliged them to
seek cast-off rags, kings were very lavish in their gifts of food and
pleasant monastic groves, and it cannot have been long before the
discipline, at least of some sects, was sufficiently relaxed to enable
them to accept robes. But though the Kathina in its special form
was a product of Buddhism, we cannot doubt that it was only an
outgrowth of the age-old duty of Vedic kings to protect and bestow
generous gifts on the Brahmans.
1
April, 1868.
*
ERE. iii, p. 35.
6. The Royal Regatta..
From
the time of Sukhodaya it has always been the custom of
Siamese kings to regale those who assisted and took part in the Royal
Kathina processions, and practically all members of the general public
as well, with a feast to celebrate the termination of the royal merit-
making. We have seen that mention is made of sports and amuse-

ments as following the Kathina in the inscription of Rama Garhhen.
In the Ayudhya period, until 1767, this festival took the form of a
regatta, in which the King's barge, the Queen's barge, and those of
a number of officials took part in a race. From the result prognostics
were drawn : if the King's barge lost, it betokened the prosperity
of the realm ;
but if it won, it was a sign of impending calamities
and famine. 1 This soothsaying was evidently a Brahmanical survival,
since we find such rites connected with manv Hindu ceremonies. As
a state festival this was discontinued, but Prince Damrong considers
that the popular annual beanfeast with boat races, which takes
place annually on the eighth waning of the eleventh month in honour
of the Paknarii Pagoda at the mouth of the river, is certainly the
modern representative of the Royal Regatta, but it is entirely Buddhist
and no prognostics are drawn. Graham 2 has incorrectly identified
this Paknarii Water Festival as a survival of the Ceremony of the
Speeding of the Outflow.

The Royal Regatta, or its modern equivalent at Paknarii, is of
considerable social value, coming as it does immediately after the
somewhat strenuous Kathina season, and also affording relief and
much needed amusement to the many young men who have just
obtained freedom after their three months' sojourn in the priesthood.
It is natural in a hot climate, and with people who are more or
less amphibious, that royal sports should be of an aquatic nature,
especially in low-lying and swampy countries. That the Siamese
Royal Regatta is in accordance with the traditional Indian idea of
what should be the sport of kings, the following examples show :
Thus in Pagan, an old capital of Burma :
"
In the hot season the king (Narathihapate, A.D. 1255-90) loved
to sport at splashing water. He made a great shade from the palace
to the river wharf and walled it in so that men might not see, and
built a royal lodge for security thereby ; and taking his queens,
concubines, and all his women he was wont to go along a tunnel of
cabins and sport in the water." 3
1
KM., and NN. 9 p. 92.
2
Siam, ii, p. 278.
3
Glass Palace Chronicle, Tin and Luce, p. 168.
Again, in ancient Ceylon, we have :
"
The King Devanaihpiyatissa, who had arranged a water-festival
for the dwellers in the capital, set forth to enjoy the pleasures of the
" *
chase ;
and at a later period,

"
When then the king had come into the capital as victor in battle
and had raised the parasol (of sovereignty) he went to a festival at
2
the Tissa-tank."
Lastly, in Ancient India, there is the remark in Ghdta Jdtaka

(No. 454), that :-
"
One day the king proposed that they should go and disport
themselves in the water."
1
M. xiv, 1.
2
M. xxxv, 38.
CHAPTER XVII
ROYAL ANNIVERSARIES
1. The Anniversary of the Coronation.
"
This festival, known as Cliatra Mangala (literally the blessing
of the royal umbrella '') lasts for four days, which are, in this reign,
23rd to 26th February. It is a festival of comparatively modern
origin, having been instituted by King Rama
IV, who wished Siam,
in this respect, to follow the practice of other nations of the modern
world. 1 The programme of ceremonies which he laid down has been
followed ever since with such minor modifications as later kings have
thought fit to introduce. The following were the rites as carried out
on the last Anniversary of the Coronation of the late King Rama VI,
9th to 12th November, 1925.
At 5 p.m. on the first day, in the Hall of Amarindra, the annual
memorial service in honour of the former kings of the dynasty was
celebrated by a chapter of seventy-five monks in the King's presence.
The miniature golden urns containing the relics of the five previous
kings and their first queens were placed on an altar in the hall during
the service. Before the service the King presented royal warrants
conferring various ranks upon some fifty-two monks. Next day, also
at 5 p.m., the King proceeded to the Tusita Hall, where eighty high
priests and abbots of the

capital and the provinces celebrated a religious
service, invoking prosperity for the kingdom. On the third day, at
10 a.m., the King again went to the Tusita Maha Prasada and, with
the assistance of the members of the Royal Family and high officials,
presented food to the monks who celebrated the service the previous
evening. After this the Court Brahmans celebrated a benedictory
service, the rites of which comprise a show of mumbling texts from
their sacred books, performing a man dian for the benefit of the
nine-tiered White Umbrella (symbolical of the monarchy) to which they
tie strip of red cloth, and finally sprinkling the
a Umbrella and the
2
Royal Weapons with lustral water.
After 4 p.m. on the same day the King proceeded to the same
Hall and, after lighting the candles at the altar, seated himself upon
the throne, under the great Umbrella of State. The State trumpeters
1 2
BRB., pp. 56 sqq. BRB., p. 60.
213
blew a fanfare, accompanied by the drummers on the State metal

drums. A royal scribe next read a decree promoting a Cau Fa Prince
from Kram Khun to Kram Hlvan, creating a Cau Fa Princess a
Kram Khun, and promoting a Brahyd to the rank of Cdu Brahyd. The
King then handed the tablet of promotion to each recipient, poured
lustra!water on their heads and anointed them. Afterwards the King
held a Chapter of the Order of Cula Com Klau (an order confined to
royalty), promoting certain members of the Order, and conferring

the honour of knighthood and companionship on a number of new
members. At the end of the Chapter the King retired to the Biman
Ratya Hall, to hold a Chapter of the Ladies' Division of the same
Order, and to make promotions and appointments. The King then
proceeded to the Pantheon to light candles and incense, and to make
obeisance before the statues of the former kings of the dynasty.
Members of the Royal Family and officials also did reverence in the
same way.
On Army and Navy fired a Royal Salute of
this day, at noon, the
101 guns. At 10 p.m. on the 12th November there was a Court
Levee, but the King was unable to attend in person by reason of the
malady which shortly afterwards proved fatal.
The Anniversary of the Coronation of the present king (23rd to 26th
February) is celebrated with almost the same detail as the above
except that on the third day the King does not hold a Chapter of the
Cula Com Klau Order, nor are there any observances in the Pantheon.
These features have in this reign been transferred to the King's Birth-
day Festival, and in their place the King now holds a State Audience
Amarindra Hall,
in the similar to thatwhich followed the Coronation,
and which in the last reign was held yearly in connection with the
King's Birthday.
The Chdtra Mahgala is of little historical interest, having originated
in Siam so recently. On the other hand it is of the greatest sociological
importance. Unlike so many Siamese royal ceremonies, the meaning
of which has been entirely forgotten and the functional value consists
only of inspiring respect for the hallowed past, the Coronation

Anniversary definitely belongs to and is a product of New Siam. It
was instituted after Siam had broken with the past, and was a
manifestation of the desire of the learned King Rama IV to bring
his country into line with those more advanced countries of the
West, and to inspire the people with the spirit of patriotism, something
hitherto quite unknown to them. And yet the King was wise enough
to found nearly all the component parts of the new ceremony on rites
drawn from the stock of Siamese religion and culture the material
ROYAL ANNIVERSARIES 215
that lay ready to hand and was most easily understood by the
people.
The rites maybe analysed as follows :
(1) Buddhist services of benediction :

Naturally these predominate,
King Rama IV being such a staunch Buddhist, and the Chdtra
Mangala is one of those valuable occasions on which the King shows
his interest in the people's religion by conferring degrees of learning
on distinguished monks and also shows his royal protection by
;
presenting food to those who have officiated.
(2) The Brahmans, although they take but a small part, are not
forgotten as they might have been by an equally staunch Buddhist,

but less broad-minded, king. Their presence gives to the festival that
stamp of compatibility with ancient tradition which it would otherwise
lack by reason of its modern origin.
(3) The relics or statues of the former kings cannot be too frequently
honoured during the course of the year as, especially in these days
of communistic agitation, it is so important to preserve the people's
respect for the ruling dynasty and the conception of the monarchy,
quite apart from their love for the individual monarch.
(4) Semi-religious features such as the promotion of officials,
and non-religious items of European origin, such as the Order of Cula
Com Klaiu, the Royal Salute, and the Court Levee, are all of value,
applied in moderation, for the growth of self-respect, and the whole-
some desire for advancement, the proper reward for services rendered
to the Crown.
(5) Taken as a whole, and in the estimation of the millions

who
take no actual part in it, the Chatra Mangala must have the effect of
calling to mind by its name alone the grand pageant of Coronation
with which almost every Siamese is familiar, at least from the pictorial
reproductions of it which are to be met with in almost every home
throughout the country.
2. The Kings Birthday.

This festival, like the Coronation Anniversary, is of comparatively
modern origin in Siam, and the remarks which have been made as to
the relative importance of the historical and sociological aspects of the
latter also apply to the King's Birthday (Kara chalo'm brahjatiambarsa).
Itwas founded by King Rama IV x for similar reasons to those which
prompted him to institute the Chdtra Mangala. In Siam it had never
been the custom for the birthday of anyone to be celebrated in any
way, not even that of the Buddha but King Rama IV also instituted
;
1
BRB., pp. 663 sqq.
the festival of Vaisdkha Pujd, which commemorates the Birth,

Enlightenment, and Death of the Buddha. It is probable that the
kings of ancient India celebrated their birthdays and, as King Kama V

remarks, that the ceremony of Tuldbhdra was held on such occasions.
The Siamese always remembered the day of the week of the lunar
month on which they were born, and the name of the animal which
presides over the particular year of the cycle of twelve animal years ;
this was important in connection with the horoscope with which every
Siamese was provided, and which to a great extent controlled his
conduct oflife. This was the way in which the birthday of King
Rama IV was commemorated, and is still followed in Cambodia,
where King Norodom instituted the Birthday Festival in imitation
of the action of King Rama IV.
1
But King Rama V, in order to
avoid confusion, fixed his Birthday Celebrations for 21st September,
in accordance with the newly-introduced solar calendar. King
Rama VI's Birthday was on 1st January, and that of the present King
is on 8th November. The duration of the festival has varied from
five to three days,being at present of the latter extent. But when a
king completes a cycle of twelve years, according to the old lunar
reckoning, special celebrations are held in that year. This was the
case in 1929, when King Prajadhipok attained the age of 36.
The ceremonies follow, with minor variations, the rules laid down
by King Rama IV. are very similar to the ceremonies on the
They
occasion of Chdtra Mangala. On alternate days there is a service in
the Amarindra Hall by monks of the Maha Nikaya Sect or the reformed
Dharmayutika Sect, and a distinguished abbot preaches a sermon.
The Candle of Victory is lighted at the beginning of the festival, and
extinguished at the end. The special texts recited on this occasion
are the Mahasamayasutta and the Seven Parittas. On the following
mornings the usual presentation of food to the officiating monks takes
place. In the present reign the King chooses the occasion of his
Birthday for the promotion of officials, the holding of a Chapter of the
Cula Com Klau Order, and the paying of homage before the statues
in the Pantheon. The special feature of the Birthday Festival, as
distinct from the Chdtra Mangala, is that the King, on the day following
his Birthday, takes a ceremonial bath, attended by the Brahmans,
who accompany the proceedings with the usual ceremonial music,
while the Army and Navy fire a salute of twenty-one guns. This
ceremonial bath is not to be regarded as an abhiseka, but rather as a
Hindu bath of purification.
In considering the sociological value of this festival, by far the
1
L., p. 322. -
ROYAL ANNIVERSARIES 217
most important feature is the illumination of the city which is carried
out during the three nights of the celebrations. This was introduced
in the reign of King Rama V and the technique has now reached a
very high standard. Not only the palace, and every government office,
but the private house of every Siamese, so far as his means will
allow, is brilliantly illuminated with designs which do great credit
to the artistic sense of the people. Perhaps even more remarkable i&
the fact that every foreign firm, Chinese, European, and American,
competes to offer the most striking evidence of their respect for the
monarch under whose protection they flourish. The words DRAN
BRAH CAR&N, and their English equivalent LONG LIVE THE
KING, flash in letters of fire from almost every building of any
importance, and there could be no more obvious sign of the contented
satisfaction of both Siamese and foreigners with the regime under
which they live. The King and Queen greatly appreciate this
spontaneous show of affection and never fail to drive round the
city at night by motor-car, and to make a trip by launch to see the

equally attractive illuminations of the riverside.
PART V
CEREMONIES RELATING
TO AGRICULTURE
CHAPTER XVIII
CEREMONIES FOR THE CONTROL OF WIND AND RAIN

1. Kite-flying.
Despite the introduction of European sports, Kite-flying is still

regarded by the Siamese as their national pastime, and as such has
often been described by European writers. During the prevalence of
the north-east monsoon, in every village and in every open space in
the city, people, both young and old, are to be seen indulging in the
amusement ;
and on the Royal Cremation Ground there is an annual
Kite-flying Festival, which the King and members of the Royal Family
attend, and prizes are presented to those who are successful in the
competitions. The latter take the form of (1) contests between pairs
of kites, the object of which is for one to bring down the other, and
(2) competitions in which the owners of the most beautiful or original

kites, all of which are invariably made of paper and bamboo, are
suitably rewarded.
The above festival, and kite-flying in general, still retain great
value as a suitable means of relaxation and gentle exercise in a hot
climate, and as an occasion for popular social intercourse but no
;
Siamese now remembers that there was once not only a public festivity,
but also an important Royal Ceremony in connection with kite-flying.
At least, such is the opinion of Geriiii, 1 who states that in the
Ayudhya period,
"
large paper kites were flown with the object of calling up the
seasonal wind by the fluttering noise they made. The festival, which
took place in the 1st month, Margasirsa, was obviously connected
with husbandry, as the wind prevailing at this season is the north-east
monsoon, which when beginning to blow, sweeps the rain clouds
away, so that fine weather sets in and the yearly flood quickly abates,
the fields drying rapidly."
have not been able to find any Siamese reference to kite-flying

I
in the Ayudhya period or earlier, except in the old legend Suvarna-
hansa, in which a lover is led to his lady by following the string of a
runaway kite, and Gerini's conclusion seems to be based entirely
on the passage in La Loubere, 2 which mentions that the kite
"
of the King of Siam is in the Air every Night for the two Winter-
months, and some Mandarins are nominated to ease one another
in holding the String."
1 2
Ge. (2). L. L., p. 49.
221
From this it appears that the Kite-flying was continued for many
days in succession, until the desired result (the setting in of the north-
east monsoon) had been obtained. It was thus a magical rather than
a religious ceremony but there seems to be no evidence as to whether
;
it was derived from India or from China. I suspect from the latter,
since we know that kite-flying has achieved a similar degree of
elaboration in that country. In China also, kites were used to drive
1
away the devil, and in Corea they were used as scapegoats.
2
2. Baruna Sdtra (Rain or Varuna Festival).
This Ceremony has, from the days of Sukhodaya onwards, been

performed in the ninth month (Sravana), a time when the commence-
ment of the rains is urgently desired, and it has always been a ceremony
of considerable importance in Siam, where the rice crop is absolutely

dependent on the seasonal rains.
The ceremony was entirely Brahmanical until perhaps as late as
theBangkok period, when the usual Buddhist modifications appeared.
There are now three degrees of the ceremony. The lowest is performed
every year, just before the Ploughing Ceremony, when a chapter of
monks prays for rain, and at which the King always attends if he can.
In seasons when a lack of rain is becoming rather serious, the monks
carry out in procession the special image as hereafter described, and
recite stanzas. Only in years of great drought is the ceremony, both
Buddhist and Brahmanical, performed in full the last occasion being ;
about thirty years ago. In ancient times, however, the Brahmanical

rites were performed regularly every year with the intention of
promoting the germination of seeds, but now they are, as already

stated, reserved for times of great drought.
The Brahmanical rites were last performed almost exactly as they
were in the time of Sukhodaya. Offerings of rice and other grains
are first made to the Hindu deities which are then carried out from
the Brahmanic temples in a procession resembling that of the Ploughing
Festival. They are then placed in an enclosure without a roof, so
that they are exposed to the full heat of the sun. The Brahmans,
with dishevelled hair and wearing only a loin-cloth such as they
use when bathing, take it in turns to read passages from their books
before the gods, at the same time waving cloud-coloured flags. This
they do twice a day for three days. Each evening they escort the
images back to their temple, and formerly they used, in doing so, to
make a pradaksina circuit of the palace in order to honour the King.
1
OB. ix, pp. 4 and 203.
2
Sources : BRB. t pp. 540 sqq. ; NN., p. 87 (not mentioned in KM. or HV.).
CEREMONIES FOR THE CONTROL OF WIND AND RAIN 223
James Frazer l Jias given numerous examples of the widespread

Sir
idea of controlling the rain by magic. Apart from the preliminary
oblations to the gqds, the Siamese ceremony exemplifies three widely
known ways of producing rain by magic (1) the imitative magic of
:
waving cloud-coloured flags (2) the imitative magic of wearing

;
"
if you would make wet weather,
bathing costumes, since you must
be wet" 2 (3) doing
;
violence to the gods, i.e. exposing them to the
sun with the intention of making them feel for themselves the
unpleasant conditions, so that they may rectify them. This is,
wherever it is practised, the last means adopted, after prayer and
imitative magic have exhausted the patience of the oppressed.
The first two methods were not mentioned by Frazer as occurring
in Siam since they were not mentioned by Bruguiere from whom he
3
quotes but, on the other hand, Bruguiere states that if the Siamese
;
"
want dry weather, they unroof the temples and let the rain pour
down on their idols". But I can find no Siamese authority for
the practise of such a rite, which, if it occurred, must have been
very rare.
Another method of producing rain which used sometimes to be
"
employed was known as Bamruh Na, which means clashing of
" "
tusks ". Two must elephants were tied to posts with strong
ropes of sufficient length to allow their tusks to meet, but not long
enough to allow them to inflict a wound. These animals being much
" "
excited by their must condition, would rush at each other in an
attempt to fight and their tusks would clash, giving forth a loud sound.
The animal which succeeded in forcing its tusks between those of its
opponent and, with this leverage, in raising the other's head, was
deemed to be the victor. The animals were then separated, and
the mahouts indulged in a competitive dance and
exchange of views
regarding each other's skill and courage. This false combat was
fought three times, followed by the dance and word war on the part
of the mahouts. The movements,
rhythm, and postures of the dance
followed a set form. 4 It appears either that the
clashing of tusks was
a magical imitation of thunder, or that the mock
fight was intended
to inspire the rain gods with fear.
The Buddhist modifications now form the more and important
popular, though less interesting, portion of the ceremony. The monks
carry out in procession a certain image of the Buddha to the royal plaza,
and they perform a religious service before it. The image is carried
1
OB. i, chap. 5, esp. pp. 296-9.
2
OB. i, p. 272.
3
Annales de V Association de la Propagation de la Foi, v, 1831, p. 131.
4
BRB., pp. 564 sq. and F. H. Giles in JSS. xxiii, pt. 2, p. 67.
out into the open, no doubt in analogy to the procedure with regard
to the Hindu gods, but the original magical idea has been lost, and
the ceremony is rather a religious service of prayer. The particular
attitude of the image carried in procession is the one known as Brah-
gandharahrastara, i.e. calling down rain, according to the following

passage in the traditional life of the Buddha :
"
When the Buddha stayed in Jetavana in the City of Savatthi,
no rain fell and the rice withered all over the country. The water
in the tanks, ponds and rivers was dried up and even the lotus pond
from which the Buddha partook of water. Fishes suffered great distress,
because the crows preyed upon them whilst the rest hid themselves
in the inud. At that time the Buddha went with his alms bowl
collecting food and when he saw this he felt pity. After having
partaken of food the Buddha called Ananda asking him to bring him
a bath cloth. Ananda said that the water was dried up since several
days but the Buddha called for the bath cloth again, and when
Ananda gave it to him, the Buddha covered his body with a part of
it whilst he put the other part over his shoulder. He stood up near
the pond, and is represented calling for rain with his right hand,
and opening the left hand to catch the water, and then the rain was
i
falling."
As one might expect, the religious prayer offered to the Buddha

on these occasions, being in accordance with the general procedure
at other popular festivals connected with the national religion, is
more appreciated by the masses of the people than the obscure and
little understood rites of the Court Brahmans. Nevertheless, there is
room amongst a people given to superstition, and, taken

for the latter,
together, the Baruna Sdtra has still a strong hold over the people and
great sociological value in enabling them to endure what must be a

trying period of the year, considering that their very existence depends
on the coming of the rains. The great power of this ceremony, as
opposed to most magical ones, is that it can really never fail it is, if ;
necessary, kept up indefinitely and rain must come sooner or later.

Again, historical instances are recorded of rain having fallen
immediately the ceremonies were undertaken, which is an example

of the greater functional value of recorded history than of mere oral
tradition, which sooner or later must forget or at least confuse such

occurrences.
It is difficult to trace the path along which this Siamese ceremony
has journeyed from India, by reason of the fact that perhaps no
Brahmanic ceremony shows greater variations in detail in the various
countries influenced by Indian civilization. In India itself there are
1
Extract from translation of an essay of the Somtej Phra Paramanujit, the son
of King Rama I, quoted in JSS., vol. x, 1913, pt. ii, p. 32.
many such variations .which have been catalogued by Frazer, 1 and

therefore it is not
surprising that the rain-making ceremonies in the
different countries .of Indo-China show little resemblance to each
other, and indeed they have probably been grafted on to local
primitive cults.
In Burma there is a ceremony for the calling down of rain, called
Mondt Puzaw, or worship of the Lord of the Clouds
(presumably
Varuna). It was of Indian origin, but apparently is now confined
2
to prayer for rain by the Buddhist abbots, and in Cambodia there is
a rain-making ceremony called Bauchea krabey, in which a buffalo
is sacrificed. 3 But neither of these forms throws any light on the
evolution of the Siamese Brahmanic ceremony, which appears to be
independently derived from India, and to be made up largely of late
Tantric rites.
3. The Speeding of the Outflow (Itii ro'a or lai ndm).*

The Ceremony of the Speeding of the Outflow was formerly
performed in the first lunar month (Margaslrsa). It was a magical
ceremony designed to induce the dispersion of flood water, which at
that time of year might be endangering the rice-crop. It was of
great
sociological importance, enabling the people to bear the strain of a
period in which the entire fruits of the year's labour were in jeopardy,
and the country was threatened with famine. It was not performed
every year, but only after years of unusually heavy rainfall, when the
floods assumed dangerous proportions, the last occasion being in the
great flood year of A.D. 1831.
Probably it was discontinued because the King himself, and not
the Brahmans, performed this ceremony, and it would not add to
the dignity of the King if it continued to rain, as it sometimes did,
after the whereas the failure of a ceremony performed by
ceremony ;
the Brahmans would matter

less. In fact, this was evidently felt as
long ago as the seventeenth century by King Narayana, since La
Loubere says :
"
The present King was the first that dispensed with this trouble-
some work, and it is several years since it seemed abolished because, ;
they say, that the last time he perform'd it, he had the disgrace of
being surpriz'd with rain, although his Astrologers had promised him
6
a fair day."
The King, accompanied by the Royal Family, proceeded down the

river in a grand procession of state barges. While officials beat gongs,
1 "
Loc. cit. 2
ERE. art. Burma". L., pp. 574 sqq.
4
Sources : BRB., pp. 63 sqq., and KM. * L. L., p. 43.
the King repeatedly waved the long-handled fan (bdjahrii) in the direc-
tion of the sea, asan intimation to the flood-demon, i.e. the waters,
to flow rapidly. It was thus a rite of imitative magic, and is
away
especially interesting as being, so far as I know, the only Siamese
ceremony in which the King performs a rite, not as a god, but in the
more primitive role of magician.
Most of the European writers, such as Diogo do Couto l in the
2 3 4
sixteenth century, Le Comte de Forbin, John Struys, Tachard,
de Choisy, 5 and Kaempfer 6 in the seventeenth century, mention this
ceremony. They all, however, make the mistake of confounding
the royal fan with a sword with which, they say, the king cut the
7
water. But this, as Gerini points out, is absurd. They also, with
greater accuracy, make mention of boat-races following the ceremony.

These were a feature of the Ayudhya period in this ceremony as in the
Royal Regatta, and as they still are in the Cambodian ceremony. But
Graham 8 was wrong in identifying the modern Paknarii Festival with
the lai ro'a, since the former is without a doubt a relic of the Royal
Regatta.
Disregarding the usual Buddhist modifications which were added
on in the Bangkok period (the presence of Buddhist monks in the
procession who invoke the Buddha, represented by the image known

as Brah Ham i.e. in the attitude of calming the ocean) one
Samud,
might suppose that the ceremony was of Brahmanic origin, despite
the fact that no Brahmans took part in it. This supposition is
confirmed by the Cambodian ceremony 9 which survives up to the
present day, and includes two rites not known in Siam (1) a rite in :
which a Brahman, after invocation of the Hindu deities, cuts a leather

thong stretched across the river between two boats by means of the
sacred sword. The meaning of this rite has not been satisfactorily
explained (2) in which the king sprinkles himself with lustral water
;
offered by the Brahmans. On the other hand, what would appear to

be the essential rite of endeavouring to force the waters to disperse
by waving the fan does not appear. Our knowledge of this ceremony
is indeed fragmentary and unsatisfactory it can only be said with
;
reasonable certainty that the Siamese form is Brahmanic, and was

derived from India, probably via Cambodia.
2
Decades, quoted in Bowring, i, p. 101. Memoirs.
Voyages, Eng. ed., 1684, p. 60.
Voyage de Siam des peres Jesuites, Amsterdam, 1687, p. 221.
Journal, Trevoux, 1712, p. 242
i, p. 73, where he confuses this ceremony with Kathina nam.
Ge. * 78 sq. *
(2). Siam, ii, pp. L., chap. xii.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XVIII

My attention has recently been called by friend, Monsieur Rene
my
Nicolas, to a rain-making ceremony performed at Phnompenh in the
reign of the present king Monivong of Cambodia. I thought it might be
of interest to include it in this work, firstly, because it does not
appear
to have been published elsewhere, and secondly, because similar rites
may have formerly been performed in Siam in connection with the Baruna
Sdtra. The following is a copy of the programme for the celebration at
Phnompenh, as I received it :
Dimanche 18 aout 1929, de 18 h 15 d 20 h 15.
DANSES RITUELLES
executees
dans la salle du Trone du Palais Royal
a 1' occasion de la
CEREMONIE DBS OFFRANDES AUX ANGES (BUONG-SUONG) L
arm de solliciter la pluie pour la culture du paddy et la sante
pnblique, suivies d'un the offert par
SA MAJESTE PREA BAT SAMDACH PREA SISOWATHMONIVONG
Roi de Cambodge,
en Thonneur de
Madame et Monsieur Lavit
Resident Superieur de Cambodge.
PROGRAMME
I. Presentation des mets, dans des plateaux d'or et d'argent, aux
Anges des quatres points cardinaux par douze danseuses representant
quatre princes, quatre princesses et quatre ogres.
II. Ballet des ofTrandes aux Anges dites
Buong-Suong execute par
les danseuses a 1'exception des quatre ogres qui sortent
pour reapparaitre
ensuite seuls sur la scene.
III. Danse d'ouverture executee par 1'archange Vorchhun.
IV. Promenade a travers les airs de la deese des mers Mekhala qui
detient un joyau merveilleux.
V. L'Ange-gcant Ream-Eyso cherche a s'emparer en vain du joyau
qui eblouit quand la deesse Mekhala le montre.
"
VI. Ballet des offrandes aux Anges dites CHAP-ROBAM " execute
par 1'ensemble de la troupe (Abondance de la saison pluvieuse, souhaits
de bonne sante, de longevite et de bonheur).
1
Siamese, Bvaii Svan (guardian genii).
CHAPTER XTX
FESTIVALS OF FIRST FRUITS
1. Dhanya-daha}-
Until the end of the Ayudhya period there was a State Ceremony
of Harvest Thanksgiving, known as Dhdnya-daha, or Burning of the
Ears of Padi, which took place in the third month (Magha). In the
Sukhodaya period, according to Nan Nabamasa, the King was present
at the burning of the padi, but Khun Hlvan Ha Vat states that during
the Ayudhya period the ceremony was carried out as follows :
An official dressed as a " temporary king " proceeded to the royal

padi fields in a procession similar to that of the Ploughing Ceremony.
A dais had been erected on the fields, and on this a tiered umbrella-of-
state,made of various kinds of padi. The mock king seated himself
on the dais and then set fire to the straw umbrella. His retinue was
divided into two parties, one dressed in green and the other in red,
2
representing respectively the followers of Indra and Brahma. These
two parties of gods then ran to the burning umbrella and attempted
to carry it off by force. Prognostics were drawn according to the
party which was successful.
According to the BansdvaJitdra for the reign of King Paramakosa
the rites consisted, perhaps in addition to the Burning of the Padi,
of a ceremony of Carrying Home the Padi (baraduJc khciu Ian nai
rahdeh). The King himself went out in state to the Crown padi fields,
and loaded some of the grain on to a sled, which was drawn to the
palace by members of the royal family by means of a rope of twisted
padi straw. On arrival at the palace a tiered umbrella was fashioned
from this rope, the juice was pressed from the grain and was mixed
with cocoa-nut milk to form a gruel, which was presented to the abbots
of the royal monasteries.
Taken as a whole, this ceremony is evidently a Sacrifice of First
Fruits which, in the development of ritual, is a later stage than
the primitive idea known as a Sacrament of First Fruits. Concerning
3
such rites, Sir James Frazer states that
Sources BRB., pp. 118 sqq. NN., p. 71 HV. the KM. simply says " phau
Ichau
^ mai mi
:
"
; ; ;
there is no burning of the padi ", the ceremony evidently having

", i.e.
been in abeyance at the time the KM. was written.
a
Gerini in Ge. (2) states that there were four parties, representing the gods of the
quarters, but he cites no authority.
3
OB. viii, p. 109.
228
FESTIVALS OF FIRST FRUITS 229
"
primitive peoples often partake of the new corn and the new fruits
sacramentally, because they suppose them to be instinct with a divine
spirit of life. At a later age, when the fruits of the earth are conceived
as created rather* than as animated by a divinity, the new fruits are
no longer partaken of sacramentally as the body and blood of the
god but a portion of them is offered to the divine beings who are
;
believed to have produced them. Originally, perhaps, offerings of

first-fruits were supposed to be necessary for the subsistence of the
divinities, who without them must have died of hunger ; but in after
times they seem to be looked upon rather in the light of a tribute
or mark of homage rendered by man to the gods for the good gifts
they have bestowed on him. Sometimes the first-fruits are presented
to the king, perhaps in his character of a god ; very often they are
made over to the spirits of the human dead, who are sometimes thought
to have it in their power to give or withhold the crops. Till
the first-fruits have been offered to the deity, the dead, or the king,
people are not at liberty to eat of the new crops."
The Burning of the Ears of Padi and the Conveying of it Home are
two stages in an interesting series of superimposed rites, illustrating
the evolution of the Sacrifice of First Fruits from a very early period.
I will attempt to analyse this series as follows :
(1) The Burning of the Ears of Padi was originally a sacrifice to

Agni, and as such can be traced back to the Vedic offering of first
fruits or Agrayaneshti.^
Later tbe king exercised his divine functions by himself
(2)
receiving the fire offering (and we have seen that he was present
at the ceremony during the Sukhodaya period).
(3) But, for reasons to be discussed in a later chapter, he after-

" "
wards appointed a substitute temporary king to take his place.
A
very interesting episode is the competition to obtain the
(4)
spoil between the followers of Indra and Brahma. The meaning of

this is quite forgotten, and I have seen no attempted explanation
of it. When
reading the account of the Vedic Agrayaneshti in the
atapatha Brdhmana, however, it at once occurred to me that I had
found a possible explanation The Agrayaneshti oblations consisted
:
of (i) a cake on twelve potsherds for Indra and Agni

sacrificial
(ii) a ;
mess of boiled grains for the Visve Deva (All-gods), prepared with
water or milk and (iii) a cake on one potsherd for heaven and earth.
;
That this oblation was due to them was explained by a myth which
stated that the gods had performed a sacrifice in order to rid the
world of the asuras who were poisoning the food of all men. But the
gods could not agree as to the partition of the sacrifice :
1
tfatapatha Brahmana, ii, 4, 3, in SBE. xii, p. 369; and Paraskara-Qrihya
Sutra, ni, 2, in SBE. xxix, p. 338.
" *
Then they said, To which of us shajl this belong ? '
They
*
did not agree (each of them exclaiming), Mine it shall beNot !
'
'
having come to an agreement, they said, Let us run a race for this
' '
(sacrifice) : whichever of us beats (the others) his it shall be!'

, So be it !
they said, and they ran a race. India and Agni won, and hence
that Indra-Agni cake on twelve potsherds Indra and Agni having
;
won a share in it. And where Indra and Agni were standing when
l
they had won, thither all the gods followed them."
I suggest that the struggle for the spoils between the

representatives
of the gods in Siam is identical with the race between the Vedic
gods.
One must, of course, after such an immense lapse of time, allow for
a certain amount of modification and confusion, due especially to the
introduction of the mock king and the loss of the original
meaning
of the rite.
(5) The Conveying Home of the Padi, rather than being a distinct
ceremony, seems to be a later stage in the series. It belongs to that

late period when the reason for the
" "
temporary king has been
forgotten, and the king wishes to resume his place as receiver of the
first fruits. The erection of a royal umbrella of straw is in this case,
"
as in the case of the temporary king ", a symbol of his being Lord
of the Kice.
(6) The offering of rice-gruel to the monks is merely the addition

of latter-day pious Buddhist kings. It cannot be considered as a
sacrament of first fruits.
The Brahmanical Sacrifice of the First Fruits evidently spread
from India to all the countries of Indo-China. In Burma it was
known as the Mahd-peinne Pwedaw, and the offerings from the king's
hands were made to the Maha-peinne Nat at the Arakan Pagoda,
2
Amarapura. In Cambodia the ceremony, substantially the same as
that of Siam, and from which the latter was probably derived, has
been retained until modern times. It was mentioned by Cheou
Ta-kouan in the thirteenth century in the words " after the rice
harvest they burn rice in honour of Buddha ", and, in its modern
it has been fully described 3
form, by Leclere. It is called the Thvoeu-
bon Sdach Mtakh, the Sdach Meakh or King of the Month of
"
Magha,
"
being of course the temporary king who officiates on this occasion.
But the competition between the representatives of Indra and Brahma
is not mentioned,
having evidently disappeared in the course of time.
On the other hand, the Ceremony of Conveying home the Padi, which
is also not mentioned, probably did not occur in Cambodia, and was
a late Siamese modification.
1 "
tfatapatha Brahmatia, ii, 4, 3, 4, and 5. 2
ERE. art. Burma ".
3
L., pp. 292 sqq.
Dhdnya-daha was .naturally a ceremony in which the people

took great interest, since it was necessary that it should be performed
before they themselves could enjoy the fruits of their labours. It was,
indeed, not only a royal ceremony, but was also a festival of the
people, being celebrated on a limited scale in every town and village.
And though the royal ceremony has long since ceased to exist, the
harvest operations are still accompanied by oblations to the gods in
rural districts. There is also much rejoicing, and a popular pastime
at this season is known as lln blen, or the singing of rhymes connected
with harvest and love-making. I have myself witnessed this on
one occasion, but afull description of it has been published by H.H.
Prince Bidyalankarana. 1
Since the popular harvest celebrations still retain such a hold over
the people it seems probable that a revival of the ancient royal
ceremony might be beneficial, as it would give official recognition to

the present rural customs, and afford a stimulus to the people to work
harder for the production of a satisfactory rice crop.
2. Bidhi Sarada?
Until a few decades ago a festival known as Bidhi Sarada, which
simply means the Feasting Ceremony, took place annually, from the
last day of the tenth month (Bhadrapada) until the second day of
Asvina. It was revived by the present King in 1928, and again in
1930. As the ceremony took place, in accordance with ancient
tradition, privately within the palace grounds, there was no chance
of its awakening any interest amongst the general public, who have
completely forgotten that there was once a popular form of the

ceremony.
Sarada is a festival which
completely lost its original significance
during the course of the centuries, and one has to dig deeply in order
to unearth that early meaning. Gerini 3 is, so far as I am aware, the
only European author who mentions the ceremony, and he sums it

up in few words as a half-year (autumnal) festival, originally Saivic,
now an occasion for merit-making which is perfectly true as far as
;
itgoes, but it does not take us very far. King Kama V, in his book,
recognizes from the account of Nan Nabamasa that in early times the
festival was entirely Brahmanic, consisting of the preparation of
special food on which the Brahmans feasted and some of which was
offered to the gods and manes. In later times the Brahmans took
1
JS8. xx, pp. 101 " The
sqq., Pastime of Rhyme Making and Singing in Rural
Siam."
a
Sources : BRB., pp. 599 sqq. ; NN., pp. 89 sqq. Ge. (2).
little part, and the special food was presented to the monks as an act
of royal merit-making, in accordance with Buddhist ideas; but
the manes were not entirely forgotten, although not taken very
seriously. King Kama V, therefore, supposed that the original rites
were Brahmanic, and corresponded to the Hindu srdddhas.
In Cambodia there takes place a Buddhist festival of merit-making
at the same time of year, though with rather more attention to the
deceased ancestors than was evident in Siam. It is known as the
u
Thvoeu-bon-kant Boent, which Leclere 1 translates as Fete des morts ".
It appears to me that both King Kama V
and Leclere have missed
the point and I take the somewhat bold step of attempting to show
;
that this festival is not primarily a Feast of the Dead, but should be
correctly classified as a Festival of First Fruits. In Siam, at least,
it does not
appear that there was any festival specially dedicated to
deceased ancestors, and Gerini has remarked 2 that at the beginning
of every domestic ceremony oblations, similar to those of the Hindu
srdddhas, are offered to the gods and pitris. In other words, the
spirits of the dead are only remembered when something is required
from them, their assistance in carrying out a ceremony, or (at
i.e.
New Year) their protection, or at least non-interference, during the

coming year. I shall endeavour to show that Sdrada was formerly
a Festival of First Fruits.
As performed during the Ayudhya and Bangkok periods, the
ceremonies are as follows For the three days during which the
:
festival lasts, monks offer special prayers in the royal monasteries

for the welfare of the kingdom, and especially for seasonable rain during
the time that
it is
required for the welfare of the growing rice? There is
also a pavilion erected in the palace grounds where the Brahmans
make offerings to the Hindu deities. On the first day, within the
Grand Palace enclosure, the preparation of a special confection takes
place, which rite forms the most striking feature of the festival. The
"
process is known as kvan khau dibya, literally mixing heavenly rice ",
i.e. the food of the
gods, which is significant. For this purpose eight
of the usual ceremonial pavilions, with curtained roofs each
supported
on four posts, are erected in the palace grounds. Each pavilion is
surrounded by a rajavdt fence decorated with paper umbrellas, and
intended to ward off evil influences (PL XXXII). The ingredients used in
making the confection, after having been prepared elsewhere, are brought
to the pavilions and the sacred sincana thread is
passed round them.
They are then poured into eight large pans about a metre in diameter,
1 2 3
L., chap. x. Ge. (1), pp. 40, 41. BRB., p. 629.
PJLATK
* 6
Mix MO
r HKAVKNT^V HJCK " IN THK
CKKEMONY.
2 S3.
FJLATE XXXIII.
nfffroff Time* /*/<"**, Lt<l.
"
MIXING THUS HMAVKNLY HICK : A NKARBR VIJEW.
and a third of a metre in depth, one being placed on each dais. The
ingredients are more than sixty in number, and include the various
kinds of rice and other grain grown in the country, together with fruit
juices, sugar, milk, butter, and water.
As these ingredients have
already been prepared, all that requires to be done during the actual
ceremony is to stir them together. The result is something like
mince-pie.
The stirring of the confection is the duty of thirty-two young
ladies of royal degree, preferably of the rank of Cau, Hmom but in
the event of these not being available, they may be chosen from among
those of the rank of Raja Varna or Hmom Hlvan. They are
Hmom
attired in ancient Siamese style and also have the sacred thread passed
round their heads. It is not always easy to find suitable young ladies,
because it is essential that they should be very young, and that they
should be virgins. The latter regulation probably had some earlier
Hindu or pre-Hindu significance, but it is now explained on Buddhist
the virgins corresponding to the virgin Sujata, who offered the
lines,
Buddha a dish of milk rice, in commemoration of which event the
Siamese have a special image of the Buddha in the attitude of receiving
the dish. 1But the event in the life of Buddha took place in the
sixth month (Vaisakha).
At the four corners of the raised wooden frame into which the metal
pan is fitted on the dais there is an image of a devatd (PI. XXXIII). To
these figures, previous to the commencement of the stirring, offerings of
candles and flowers are made. It is not known for certain whom
they are intended to represent, but the Siamese authorities suppose

that they are the gru or spiritual professors who preside over the
ceremony. Proximately, that is probably what they are, but I
suggest that this is only the Hindu explanation borrowed by Buddhism.
I think that they are the oldest feature in the ceremony, that they
take us back to a time before Hinduism and Buddhism existed, and
that they are in fact Spirits of the Corn.
A chapter of monks is invited to the ceremony, and when all is
ready the King arrives and a proclamation is read to the assembly
to the effect that, whereas the King has deemed it expedient to
maintain (or revive) the ancient ceremony, it behoves all those taking
part in it to pay attention to their allotted tasks in the spirit of
kindness and charity. The proclamation ends with a pious wish that
faith in the Buddha, the Law, and the Order may bring health and
happiness to the King and prosperity to the country. The monks,

holding one end of the sacred sincana thread, recite passages from
1
J88., vol. x, pt. 2, Fig. 5.
234: SIAMESE STATE CEREMONIES
the sacred books, bless the King, and then retire. The
King then
sprinkles the virgins with consecrated water, after which they are
conducted to their appointed stations, four to each gf the eight
pans.
As the stirring with long wooden ladles proceeds, the work becomes
harder as the mixture thickens. The
King then takes his departure,
and the maidens hand their work over to
strong men, and are later
rewarded with some of the confection. On the evening of the
day
on which the khau dibya is made, some of it is
partaken of by the
King, and also by members of the Royal Family and high officials.
But by far the most important part of the is the
proceedings presenta-
tion every morning of the confection to the monks who have officiated
at the special services in the
royal temples; as well as the chapter
who had recited scriptural passages at the stirring ceremony.
The offering of khau dibya to the pitris and to the grus is, as already
stated, no longer taken very seriously, but, at least until the modern
revivals, it was always the custom to expose some of the food on tables,
especially at cross-roads. The grus are deceased spiritual professors,
and the pitris are, of course, the ancestors. These
offerings are the
same as the Hindu srdddhas, and the food thus offered is called khau
pinda. But the Siamese do not distinguish between the Hindu
ekoddishta-srdddha offerings to the pretas, i.e. the spirits of those who
have recently died and are
wandering as ghosts, and the sapindi-
karana offerings due to those who have
escaped from that stage and
"
joined the company of the fathers ". 1 The Siamese pinda offerings
are made
indiscriminately to all spirits of the dead. Their idea of the
preta differs somewhat from that of the ancient Indians :
"
a giant among phi, varying in height from ten to sixteen
It is
metres. is the ghost of one who was an evil doer when alive.
It Its
mouth is exceedingly small, even as the eye of a needle, so that it
can never satisfy its hunger. The
consequence is that its appearance
is that of a skeleton. It cannot speak, but can make a noise like a
whistle. There is one such phi, which is said to have been seen by
many people, that appears in the Chinese graveyard on the Windmill
Road [Bangkok]." 2
But this loss of the original significance of the preta is not

exclusively Siamese ;
it iscommon to later times in India.
The ceremonies described above may be analysed as follows :
(1) The TMu dibya is made of every available product of the soil,
together with milk and butter, the latter used in most Hindu oblations.
(2) The devatd figures which preside over the stirring are, I think,
1 2
Barnett, Antiquities of India, p. 149. JSS., vol. iv, part ii, p. 22.
to be regarded as Descended from the Spirits of the Corn which at

one time animated the confection with their vitality and were eaten
sacramentally. Jn the course of the corresponding Cambodian
ceremony, in some parts of the country the monks make images of
the Buddha out of the rice presented to them mixed with a resinous
substance. This seems very probably to be a "
relic of eating
the god".
(3) The
virgins, as stated above, no doubt have an earlier
significance than that attributed to them by Buddhism. There is a
widespread connection between virginity and the fertility of cattle
and plants, e.g. in the rites of the Roman Vestel Virgins who, like
the Siamese maidens, were princesses. 1 Possibly the Siamese virgins
taking part in this ceremony were originally goddesses of fertility.
The rite of preparation by virgins does not occur in the Cambodian
2
ceremony, according to Leclcre, where the royal ceremony consists
only of the Brahmans offering oblations to the gods and pitris. Nor
can I find anything to compare with it elsewhere. Possibly we have
here the survival of an extremely ancient fertility rite on to which
Hinduism, and later, Buddhism, have been grafted.
(4) Some of the confection is offered (i) to the King (god) ; (ii) to
the Royal Family and officials (lesser gods) (iii) to the spirits of the
;
dead and (iv) to the monks.

; The latter, although of course so
important in the modern aspect of the ceremony as a Buddhist
merit-making festival, may be disregarded here, and the offering
to nobles and officials is equally a late addition. What is of
importance
historically is the offering of the khau dibya to the King and to the
pitris, which are exactly the classes of beings to which Frazer has
shown that offerings of first fruits are made.
I think that the above evidence is sufficient for us to conclude
that the Bidki Sdrada was once a Festival of First Fruits. Moreover,
we can distinguish several strata in the development of the festival.
We get a glimpse of what was perhaps an early rite of partaking of
the Spirit of the Corn sacramentally, which possibly belongs to the
early stock of pre-Hindu Indo-Chinese culture; and we see this
developing into a Brahmanic sacrifice of the first fruits to the gods,
the king, and the pitris. But now all this has been much obscured by
Buddhist merit-making, and the Brahmans take only a minor part
in the ceremony.
The accordance with what is
earlier stages in this evolution are in
found elsewhere ; Frazer has shown that with a number of peoples
1
OB. ii, pp. 228-9.
a
L., loc. cit.
"
the sacrament of first-fruits is combined with a sacrifice or
presentation of them to gods or spirits, and in course of time
the sacrifice of first-fruits tends to throw the sacrament into the
1
shade, if not to supersede it "-
This is exactly what has happened in Siam and Cambodia, with

the addition of a still later stage in which either ancestor worship
(Cambodia) or Buddhist merit-making (Siam) has caused the original
significance to be forgotten.
"
It remains to find a satisfactoryanswer to the question Why :
has this seemingly important festival thus degenerated ? ", and I

think that in tracing the ceremony back to India a satisfactory answer
can be obtained.
Amongst the various Festivals of the First Fruits that are to be
observed in modern times in different parts of India, the following
has much in common with Sarada :
"
In some parts of Northern India, the festival of the new crop
is known as Navan, that is, new grain '. When the crop is ripe, the
'
owner takes the omens, goes to the field, plucks five or six ears of
barley in the spring crop and one of the millets in the autumn harvest.
This is brought home, parched, and mixed with coarse sugar, butter,
and curds. Some of it is thrown on the fire in the name of the village
gods and deceased ancestors the rest is eaten by the family." a
;
3
If this is the same as the MaJid-Jiavami, described by Dubois as a
feast specially dedicated to ancestors, it took place at the new moon
of October, i.e. approximately at the same time as does the Siamese
Sarada.
Turning now to Vedic times I think we can find the common origin
of these ceremonies in the Sdkamedha offerings. Their performance
required two days firstly, offerings were made
: to the gods then
;
"
in the afternoon takes place the Mahapitriyagna, or (Great)
sacrifice to the Manes (performed on a special altar and fireplace,
south of the Dakshinagni) which is succeeded by the Traiyambaka-
;
homa, or offering to the Rudra Tryambaka, performed on a cross-way

somewhere north of the sacrificial ground." 4
The Sakamedha was a seasonal liturgy inaugurating the beginning

of autumn that and the fact that it included a special offering to
;
the Manes make me think that it is the prototype of the Siamese

Sarada. True, it was not specially regarded as an offering of first
fruits.The latter was more definitely connected with the Agrayaneshti
which I have identified with the Siamese Dhdnya-daha. But, as Dr.
Barnett has pointed out, 5 there are various Agrayana feasts, in which
1 2 8
OB. viii, p. 86. OB. viii, p. 56. D. t p. 569.
4
atapatha Brahmana in SEE. xii, p. 408, note 1. 5
Antiquities of India, p. 160.
the rites varied, namely, of rice in the autumn, barley in spring, millet
in the autumn, or rainy season, and bamboo-seed in summer. It
seems probable -that the Sdkamedha was an autumnal Agrayana
festival.
This seems to suggest a reason why the original meaning of the
Sdrada was lost in Siam and Cambodia. In these countries there is
but one harvest worthy of the name, and that is the rice harvest which
was celebrated by the Dhdnya-daha. Thus, while Indian colonists
brought with them their autumnal festival of the first fruits, and
perhaps sought to graft it on to some indigenous sacrament of the
first fruits transposed from another time of year, in an effort to keep
up the customs of their fatherland, the endeavour was doomed to

failure, because this was not the rice harvest season in Siam.
CHAPTER XX
THE SWINGING FESTIVAL 1
1. The Reception of the Gods and the Swinging Proper.
The important ceremony of Triyambavay Trigavdy, popularly
known as Lo Jin Ja (" pulling the swing ") is one of the most interesting
as well as one of the most difficult to understand of all Siamese State
Ceremonies. Not only is it of great historical interest, but it also
retains considerable sociological value, but the latter is due mainly
to the pageantry that accompanies it rather than to the ceremony
itself. Almost all European writers of the Bangkok period have a
good deal to say about this ceremony, which is not surprising, con-
sidering its spectacular nature, but little that is of any value for a
serious inquiry. But it is remarkable that, so far as I know, none of
the seventeenth century European writers mention this ceremony,
which we know from Siamese sources was practised in the Ayudhya
period. In this section I shall deal with the Swinging Proper and
the accompanying Reception of the Gods, while in the following section
I shall make a thorough study of the little known rites performed by
the Brahmans in their temples daring the fifteen days of the gods'
supposed stay on earth.
The Swinging Festival was formerly performed in the first lunar
month, but was later changed to the second month. It was not only
an important State Ceremony in Bangkok and in the former capitals,
Ayudhya and Sukhodaya, but was practised in the other chief cities
of therealm in ancient times. At Nagara !ri Dharmaraja the Swing
still is no longer a State Ceremony there.
stands, but there
common Siamese belief, the purpose of the
According to the
Triyambavay Tripavdy is as follows Once a year the god iva comes
:
down to visit this world and stays here for ten days. He used to
arrive on the seventh day of the waxing moon in the first month and
depart on the first day of the waning moon. But it was not difficult
to postpone the date of his arrival until the second month ; for, as
King Kama V remarks, the Brahmans, like the Pope, hold that they
keep the keys of Heaven and, of course, Siva could not come down
till they had opened the door for him. Now, according to Siamese
1
Sources : BRB. t pp. 77 sqq. ; NN., p. 70 ; KM. ; HV. ; and personal observa-
tion, to which I devoted considerable time, and for which I enjoyed special opportunities
in the case of this ceremony.
238
TUB SWINGING IK PROGRESS.
[To /rtf-c pnfff

notions, Siva is a jovial god who likes to be amused so the swinging

;
and the acrobatic feats which accompany the procession are devised
for his entertainment. On the contrary, Visnu, who arrives on the
day Siva leaves, and stays only five days, is supposed by the Siamese
to be of a quiet and retiring disposition. Accordingly, he is honoured
only by the rites performed nightly by the Brahmans in the temple
dedicated to him. It is strange that the Siamese conception of the
characters of the two high gods is
exactly the reverse of that held
in India.
Siva is received with great eclat. Divine beings like the Sun, the
Moon, the Earth, and the Ganges assemble together and wait upon
him. These lesser gods are represented by the carved panels which
the Brahmans fix in front of the pavilions from which Siva will watch
the swinging.
For this ceremony the King appoints a nobleman to impersonate
Siva, and during the three days that the festival lasts this noble
used to have almost unlimited powers and rights over certain of the
State revenues. He was, in fact, a
" " "
temporary king or temporary
"
god the two terms being almost synonymous in Siam and this
institution will be dealt with fully in Chapter XXII. It appears
from the short account of Nan Nabamasa (who mentions the swinging,
sprinkling of water, and circular dances) that during the Sukhodaya
period the King was present at the ceremony, but during the Ayudhya
period the King remained in his palace on these occasions. The
KM. makes much of a ceremonial bath which the King took on the
occasion of the Swinging Festival, and this is also mentioned by
Khun Hlvan Ha Vat, but as there is no known instance of this having
actually taken place, King Kama V thinks that it probably refers
to the time of King Narayana, who is known to have favoured
Brahmanism more than Buddhism, and probably wished to consider
himself aHindu on this occasion.
During the Ayudhya period (as mentioned by Khun Hlvan Ha
Vat) and until the third reign of the present dynasty, it was only
CUu Bmhyd Ealadeba (Minister of Agriculture) who impersonated
Siva, but King Rama IV, thinking that it was too much for this
official to be expected to arrange for two great State Ceremonies every
year, inaugurated the custom, which has been followed ever since, of
appointing a different brahyd of golden bowl rank to preside over
the Swinging each year.
On the seventh day of the waning moon, in the morning, the
procession of Siva proceeds from the Buddhist temple of Vat Raja-
purana, following the city wall, to the Swing. The god is supposed
to have just arrived in this world. He wear>3 a tall pointed hat

representing a crown, a tunic, and long robe similar to that worn
by the King on State occasions, and a pha~nun* of brocade. The
mode of wearing the latter is called pdv Jchun (" slave of the king "),
one side of the cloth being allowed to hang loose in front, i.e. only
one side is tucked up behind and not both, as in the common practice.
He is carried on a palanquin, accompanied by a royal umbrella, a
sunshade, and several processional umbrellas, with a detachment of
"
drummers of victory ", and pages bearing his insignia (PI. XXXV).
The procession is made up differently each year. There are always
a number of acrobats and persons dressed as sprites from celestial
spheres, and sometimes Indra mounted on Airavata while nowadays
;
ithas become the fashion to add a long and incongruous array repre-
senting the department or industry with which the brahyd is associated
in ordinary life. In 1929 the procession was illustrative of the
activities of the Ministry of War, with aeroplanes and the newly-
purchased tanks ; while in 1930, the brahyd being a Chinese gentleman
connected with commerce, there were model rice-mills on wheels,
advertisements for certain makes of motor-car tyres, and walking
bottles of whiskey in fact, most Chinese firms took the opportunity
to advertise their wares. The occasion was spoken of by the Siamese
with pride as being a Siamese Lord Mayor's Show, and I noticed that,
while there was little interest in the Swinging, which means absolutely
nothing to the modern Siamese, vast crowds lined the route of the
procession, which alone appears to be of any sociological value. But,
however much one may regret these innovations, it must be said
" "
that to this campaign
selling we owe the preservation of the
Swinging Festival, which had almost reached the stage at which lack
1
of interest and loss of significance are followed by abolition.
The Swing is an enormous permanent erection some eighty feet
high, which used to stand on a grassy plot in front of the Brahman
temples, but now stands in the centre of a paved open space about
a hundred yards from them. It consists of a pair of great red-painted
teak masts, which slope slightly inwards, and are
pillars, like ship's
joined at the top by carved cross-pieces (PL XXXIV). On the occasion of

the festival a plank is suspended from the lower cross-piece by means of
ropes, and the central part of the plaza, around the Swing,
is enclosed
by a rdjavdt fence. Before the procession arrives, the Brahmans

carry out a swing-seat from their temple, and are supposed to hang
it up but, when the brahyd arrives, the plank is taken back into
;
1I am informed on high authority that not long before this occasion the question
of abolition was actually considered by the Supreme Council of State.
w
3
t i
o
M
m
^
H-{
ss
3
the temple and another plank which has already been fastened to
the swing-posts is let down, and it is supposed to be the same one as
that which has been taken back into the temple. The reason for
but it may be that it is to avert some evil omen.
this is obscure,
On arrival, Siva alights in the north-east corner of the plaza at
a thatched hut or said, called the mdnab or malak. He is then led
to the furthest west of three pavilions (called jamram) of bamboo poles
and white cloth which have been erected along the northern side of the
plaza. In the middle of this pavilion there is a bamboo rail, covered
with white cloth, for sitting on, and another one to lean against.
The brahyd sits on the rail. He crosses his left foot over his right knee
and plants his right foot on the floor (PL XXXVI). Khun Hlvan Ha
Vat mentions this, and states that if the brahyd were to allow both
feet to touch the ground his property would be confiscated. The
attitude may represent some Yoga discipline of ancient India. Four
Brahman s stand oh his right, two officials of the Ministry of War
and two officials of the Ministry of the Interior of the rank of hlvan
stand on his left, while two conch blowers stand in front. As soon
as he has arrived at the jamram he sends joss-sticks and candles to be
offered in worship in the Buddhist temple (Vat Sudasana) opposite ;
and sometimes he himself goes to worship at the temple, drums of

victory being beaten while he enters and leaves. This feature is,
of course, a comparatively late Buddhist addition.
When Siva has taken up his position the swinging begins. There
are three sets of swingers (ndrivdn), with four men to each set. Their
peculiar head-dress shows that they are supposed to be ndgas. For
each set of swingers a reward is offered in a purse tied to the top of
a slender bamboo pole erected some distance to the west of the Swing
(PI. XXXIV). In the first instance the purse contains twelve ticals, in
the second ten, and in the third eight. When the swingers have climbed
into the swing-seat they first do homage to Siva, and then remain seated
while the cradle gathers momentum as the result of a man pulling
on a dependent rope. Then the man nearest to the purse gets on his
feet, throws off his hat, and endeavours to snatch the purse with his
teeth, while the man towards the pole.
in the rear steers the cradle
Several feints are made (evidently with the object of amusing the god
or the crowd) before the purse is seized. Success is greeted with
applause, while any untoward accident is regarded as a bad omen.
At the conclusion of each successful effort gongs are sounded and
conches blown, and all the four swingers stand up and violently agitate
the swing-seat by pulling the ropes, apparently in order to bring
it to rest as rapidly as possible. They then once more pay homage
to Siva with joined palms and descend to the ground. After all
three sets have performed their task, the swinging for the day is
finished, and Siva mounts his palanquin and is carried off in procession.
Next day there are only the Brahmanic rites in the temple, but
on the day after that the swinging is again performed, but this time
in the evening and with several additional features. The procession
again sets out from Vat Rajapurana and wends its way to the scene
of the swinging, but on this occasion the brdhyd does not stop at the
manab, but goes straight to the western jamram, where he takes

his seat and the swinging is carried out three times by the three
sets of swingers as on the previous occasion, and they are rewarded
with the same amounts of money. After the swinging is over, all the
swingers bring a big brass basin, called Man sdgara, full of water, and
set it before the jamram in which Siva is seated. They then perform
a circular dance, called senah, of three circuits around the basin, each
naga swinging a buffalo horn as he dances (PL XXXVII). Before the
last circuit they run towards the basin and fill their horns with water,
and after the completion of the last circuit they scatter the water from
the horns over each other. 1 Siva then rises and goes to the second
jamram, and afterwards to the third. Each time the swingers follow
him with their basin, dance the senan, and throw water over each
other. Then the bratiyd mounts his palanquin and is carried in
procession back to Vat Rajapurana.
It is the custom for the King to grant the brdhyd forty ticals for
presiding over the ceremony, and the brdhyd himself presents to those
who march him (corresponding to aides-de-camp), four
in line with
ticals the leaders of the procession one or two ticals each
each ; ;
those next to the leaders fifty satangs each and all the others
;
twenty-five satangs each. If the procession is big he must spend a

large sum in feeding the men and giving them presents. Besides
which, he must spend a little more in providing special costumes for
" "
his followers.All this, however, only applies to the royal party
and the accompanying sprites and jugglers, not, of course, to the
various elements which make up the enormous procession of this
"
Siamese Lord Mayor's Show ".
It was King Rama IV who broke away from the old custom
first
of remaining in his palace during the festival. He took great interest

in the ceremonies and, following his usual custom, added Buddhist
modifications to what was before a purely Hindu observance. In
accordance with his idea that all State Ceremonies should conform
swingers do not use their hats as scoops, nor do they scatter the water over
1 The
the crowd, as inaccurately stated by Graham in Siam, ii, p. 269.

PJ.ATK XXXVIJ.
THK C'lRcujbAK DAN CMS OF THK **

*V.-I^M*s *\
f ?'i 1
/fit'** pny*.' "4*

PLATE XXXVIII.
/Vfo/o; Kungknk Tint?* I 'rest, Ud,
"
HOMAGK TO THK
'
SlVA PAYING'
to Buddhism, cocoa-nuts, bananas, and sugar-cane were

placed before
the Emerald Buddha, and there was a service in which pop-corn was
offered to the Buddha, in imitation of the
offerings of the Brahmans
in their temple. Buddhist texts were also recited for three and
days,
on the fifth of the waning moon food was offered to the monks who
had officiated. These Buddhist observances thus became a
preliminary
to the Hindu festival.
The custom of the King being present as a spectator was also first
introduced by King Kama IV, and nowadays the King
usually watches
the ceremonies. This expression of the royal interest is much
appreciated by the people, and especially acts as a stimulus to those
who organize the procession. This comparatively recent innovation
necessitated certain modifications in the programme. The King usually
watches the swinging from the stone said on the wall of the Buddhist
monastery, Vat Sudasana, situated on the south of the plaza. The
procession of Siva is held up en route until it is ascertained that the
" "
King has arrived at the Vat. Then the mock royal party files
before the said, the bratyd walking, his
accompanied by insignia
bearers, he having alighted from his palanquin some distance away.
Having arrived before the sold he kneels on a mat and to
pays homage
the King in the usual way (PI. XXXVIII). He then rises and
proceeds
to ihejamram. It used to be the custom for the
King to present to the
brahyd, at the time of the homage, 200 Mlpavrksa fruits, presumably
containing coins to the value of forty ticals, the amount of the
brahyd's reward for his services.
" "
Leaving the question of the temporary king for later considera-
tion, I shall here only attempt to trace the origin of the
Swinging
Ceremony As with many other Siamese festivals it is, I think,
itself.
quite clear that we have not to deal with one ceremony, but a whole
series of ceremonies
superimposed on one another. After much thought
on this subject, I feel that, while it is not difficult to
point to the
origin of the Swinging, it is almost a superhuman task to endeavour
to trace the
misunderstandings and interpolations of succeeding
ages. This is, of course, quite the opposite of the accepted view on
the matter in Siam, where, the
early significance of the swinging having
been completely forgotten and obscured
by later accretions, the latter
are regarded as affording the true
interpretation. I think that my
" "
article on the Origin of the Swinging Festival l was the first
occasion on which the theory that the
Swinging was a solar
originally
ceremony has been elaborated, although Gerini 2
had suggested as
1
Bangkok Times, 27th Dec., 1930. *
Ge. (2.)
much without, however, bringing forward any evidence from India

in support of his supposition. Again, although Frazer, in opinion, my
has failed to interpret the Siamese Swinging Ceremony correctly, he
has nevertheless collected a great deal of valuable data on the various
kinds of swinging practised in different parts of the world. 1 He has
shown that swinging is performed with different objects in view by
differentpeoples. If we disregard hook-swinging, which may
or not have been originally connected with the sun, there are
may
two ceremonies of swinging known in India, and both of these are
of solar origin :
"
In the Iligveda the sun is called, by a natural metaphor, the
golden swing in the sky,' and the expression helps us to understand
a ceremony of Vedic India. A priest sat in a swing and touched with
the span of his right hand at once the seat of the swing and the ground.
'
In doing so he said The great lord has united himself with the great
:
lady, the god has united himself with the goddess.' Perhaps he
meant to indicate in a graphic way that the sun had reached the
lowest point of its course where it was nearest to the earth." 2
9 ')'
That the Siamese Lo Jifi Jd was originally a sun ceremony is
indicated by the following features :

(1) It occurs about the time
of the winter solstice ; (2) the swinging is performed from east to
west, that to say, in the direction of the course of the sun, and I have
is
particularly ascertained that the swing-posts are oriented out of the

plane of the transverse axis of the plaza in the centre of which they
are situated so that the swinging should be performed exactly from
east to west (3) the circular dances which follow the swinging
;
probably symbolize the revolution of the sun and its rebirth on the
occasion of its return to the northern hemisphere.
The ceremony was originally a rite of imitative magic, intended
to coerce the god Siirya into the fulfilment of his functions. It is
not the up and down motion of the swing which is important, and
"
which led Frazer erroneously to conclude that the higher you
swing the higher will grow the crops ". It was the to and fro motion
of the swing which impressed the ancients, as symbolizing the path
of the sun.
Turning now to the swinging as still performed in India :
"
About the middle of March the Hindus observe a swinging
festival in honour of the god Krishna, whose image is placed in the seat
or cradle of a swing and then, just when the dawn is breaking, rocked
1 OB.
pp. 277 sqq.
iv,
2
OB. 279.
iv, p. A
confused form of the Vedic ceremony is also described in
Aitareya-Aranyaka, i, 3 and 4.
gently to and fro several times. The same ceremony is repeated at

noon and at sunset." l
This rite obviously symbolizes the three steps of Visnu, as a mani-

festation of solar energy, through the seven regions of the universe,
these steps being explained by the commentators as denoting the
three places of the sun its rising, culmination, and setting. In this
connection, therefore, it is interesting to note that there are, before
the altars of Visnu and Siva in the Bangkok Brahman temples, pairs
of posts about four feet high, from which on certain occasions are
suspended small swings on which the Brahmans rock to and fro the
images of the gods. The original connection with the sun has been
forgotten, and I understand that the Siamese Brahmans swing the
effigy ofwhichever deity they desire to placate at the time.
think that the above evidence leaves little room for doubt that
I
the Siamese Swinging was originally a sun ceremony and it is very ;
interesting to find that some have survived

of the original features
from Vedic times in India.
The most noticeable and perhaps the earliest change that took
place in the subsequent history of this ceremony was the substitution
of Siva for Surya.I think that this change can be explained without
difficulty.Surya was a Yedic god who sank to comparatively low

estate in Brahmanic times, and, with the growth of Saivism, the
meaning of the ceremony was lost, and the Great God naturally
original
came to usurp the place of the forgotten sun-god. The Swinging may
have come to be regarded as symbolizing the functions of Siva as
Destroyer and Reproducer, and thus it would have retained its magical
significance although now brought more closely into connection with
agriculture as one of the many Hindu harvest festivals. As such the
Siamese Trlyawbavay seems to have certain features in common with
the Hindu Iloli festival : The licence formerly allowed to the followers
of Siva remind one of the saturnalia connected with the Holi and ;
the fact that the whole ceremony is explained by the Siamese as

" "
having the object of amusing the god Siva who likes to see swinging
may have arisen from a misunderstanding of the Hindu saturnalia.
Again, it has been suggested that the scattering of water by the
impersonators of the jiayas, after the swinging, might correspond to
the throwing of saffron water which is a feature of the Holi but this :
also lends itself to another interpretation as being a distinct

ceremony
of rain-making, for the powers of the ndgas in this connection are
well-known. Certainly the fact that the role of Siva was formerly
1
GB. iv, p. 279.
performed by the Minister of Agriculture points to a connection with

a harvest festival.
B. A. Gupte l has shown that the Holi was
originally a harvest
festival of the wheat-producing tracts of western India connected
with the spring equinox, and was later followed in
rice-producing
Bengal, where it was celebrated together with the Dola-yatra or
swinging festival described above. This is interesting as indicating
that the connection between swinging and harvest came into
probably
being before the arrival of the ceremony in Siam, i.e. it was probably
never a purely solar ceremony in Siam. According to Dubois 2 the
Holi (or Pongul) is in some parts of southern India celebrated
during
the winter solstice,
"
the period when the sun, having finished its course towards the
southern hemisphere, turns to the north again and comes back to
visit the people of India."
It seems, therefore, that this part of India retains a clearer recollec-

tion of the Holi having been connected with a solar than is
ceremony
the case elsewhere, and indicates that the Siamese
ceremony has been
influenced more particularly by the form of the festival known in
southern India. It is also interesting to note that Dubois mentions
that the festival was held in connection with the Brahmanical new
year, MaM-Satikrdnti, and King Rama V states that the Swinging
Festival was made to coincide with the new year of the Brahmans.
It has already been mentioned that when the
god $iva arrives on
earth in Bangkok he is accompanied by a number of othor
gods repre-
sented by painted panels and perhaps by the numerous
sprites
*' "
impersonated by those who precede the royal party in the pro-
cession. The Siamese explain their presence on the grounds that
they have come to help in the entertainment of Siva, but it appears
to me that we have here an entirely distinct festival of the
Reception
of the Gods, which I have not been able to trace in India, although
presumably was derived from that source. In the second part of
it
this chapter we shall have more to

say concerning the way in which
these gods are entertained during their
stay in Bangkok.
One more point calls for notice here. According to my theory of
the Swinging having originally been a rite of imitative
magic intended
to coerce Surya, and later Siva, into the fulfilment of their
functions,
we should expect that the impersonator of the god would have been
swung in the cradle of the swing. This we have seen was the case in
1
Hindu Holidays and Ceremonials, Calcutta, 1916, p. 88.
2
D., p. 572.
the Vedic ceremony where a Brahman swung himself and there is ;
between the Brahman swinging himself in Vedic times

little difference
and his swinging the image of a god in modern India and Siam, for,
"
in the words of Manu, ignorant or learned the Brahman is a great
deity." But the king is also " a great deity in human form ", and it
therefore seems reasonable to suppose that, at times when the kingship
was elevated at the expense of the Brahmans, the king at an early
period, perhaps before the ceremony reached Siam, swung himself
in imitation of the deity he was held to represent. Later, he was
replaced by an appointed substitute. It would be interesting to know

at what period it was that the Brahman, the king, or his substitute
ceased to swing himself or be swung, and became a mere onlooker.
It must have been at some time after the original significance of the
swinging had been lost. And the change probably contributed in no

small measure to the late idea of the ceremony being intended for the
entertainment of the god.
In conclusion, I may say that my suggestion as to the influences
which have played their parts in the evolution of this ceremony do not
exhaust the possibilities. Gerini, 1 for example, puts forward what
appears to me a far-fetched theory to the effect that Triyambavay
symbolizes the Churning of the Ocean, the swing-posts representing
Mount Meru and the ropes the serpent esa. This, at best, could be
but a late interpretation. But I must repeat that in any attempt to
trace the misunderstandings and
interpolations of successive ages
we are treading on exceedingly unsafe ground, beset with pitfalls.
For the present I think we must rest content to have established,
beyond all reasonable doubt, that the Siamese Swinging Festival
retains features which take us back to Vedic times, and that it was
in origin a purely solar
ceremony.
2. The Ritual of the Court Brahmans.

In this section I shall deal in considerable detail with the rites
which are performed in the Brahman Temple during the fifteen
days
of the gods' supposed
sojourn on earth. I lay special stress on this
section for two reasons
Firstly, because these rites are on very
:
similar lines to those which the Brahmans

perform in connection
with the Coronation, 2 the New Year, and the
Ploughing, but, whereas
in these cases the ceremonies are
performed within the Grand Palace
or in special pavilions erected on the Crown Padi Fields where it is
difficult to obtain facilities for studying them, in the case of the
1
G. a
With the addition of the fire offerings described on
(2). p. 72.
Swinging Festival the rites are performed pubjicly in the Brahman

Temples where one may observe them with ease and comparative
comfort. Secondly, there is, so far as I know, n<5 account of these
rites inany European language, and they are therefore unknown to
European scholars. I met in Bangkok only one or two Europeans
who had ever witnessed these ceremonies in fact, very few even
;
knew that there were such ceremonies. With the Siamese I found
only utter indifference. The small temples were never uncomfortably
crowded and those who were present cared nothing for the rites,
;
which were meaningless to them. Apart from a few superstitious old

people desirous of obtaining some of the consecrated water, they
were merely the poor dwellers in the vicinity who waited patiently
each evening for the food, which, after having been offered to the
gods, was distributed to those present. Broadly speaking, it was
quite clear that had there been no food distribution there would have
been no congregation. But this is not in itself a sign of decadence,
for Hindu pujd differs essentially from Buddhist and Christian worship
in that the masses of the people can take little or no part in the services.
The activities of the Court Brahmans do not, and never did, directly
concern the common people. Their ceremonies are royal ceremonies,
maintained by the King's desire.
I spent several evenings in the Brahman Temples during the
Swinging Festival of 1930-1, and am indebted to the Department

of Ceremonies (Kram Brah Kaja BidhI) for permission to take flash-
light photographs of the proceedings. The Head Brahman always

received me well, and offered me tea and cigars but neither he nor
;
anyone could suggest any explanation of the significance of the

else
details of the complicated rites. But it is my hope that those scholars
who have made a special study of similar Hindu pujd in India may
here find material to interest them.
On the sixth day of the waxing moon of the second month the
Brahmans gather together, take a purificatory bath and " tie the
"
vow (plmk brat), that is to say, each ties a string round one of his
arms. From
that day until the period of their vows has expired
they must live on a vegetarian diet and live apart from their wives.
The Brah Mahd Raja Gru, who presides over the rites, must observe
the vows for fifteen days, and live within the iva temple. The others
keep the vows for three days from the seventh of the waxing moon.
On the seventh day of the waxing moon, at dawn, the Brah
Mahd Raja Gru reads the hymn " Opening of the portals of Kailasa ",
by way of invitation to the gods to come down. He then goes out to
receive Siva at the mdnab as has already been described. At night
*
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the Brahmans gather in the &va temple, and the Head Priest performs
the purificatory rites (krahsuddhi atamasuddhl) as follows He takes :
his seat on a white mat with crossed legs and soles upturned he puts ;
on the Brahmanical cord (sdnvdla brdhmana) and the finger-ring

(kau pil) on the first finger of his right hand he places flowers on ;
the floor at the four cardinal points he marks his forehead with the
;
paste of sandal-wood and makes unalom signs on various parts of

his body he has a look of great concentration while he fingers the
;
beads of his rosary, apparently enumerating the formulae which he is

reciting mentally and lastly he takes up the branched candlestick
;
(with seven lighted candles and a flower) in his right hand, and swings
it to and fro before his face thirty-six times, at the same time ringing
the bell with his left hand, while the other Brahmans blow the conch
shells. After a short pause the same process is repeated twice more.
Having thus been purified, the Brah Mahd Raja Gru proceeds to
consecrate four other Brahmans who crawl up to him and pay homage
with joined palms, while he sprinkles their heads with consecrated water.
They then crawl up to the altar and pay homage before it three times,
their foreheads touching the ground. On a table before the altar pop-
corn (kJiau-tok) has already been piled up, with a cocoa-nut on top of the
heap. Into this cocoa-nut is stuck a candlestick with two lighted candles,
while on a smaller table in front of the altar is a candlestick with four
lighted candles and several dishes with flowers. On the large table, on
either side of the heap of pop-corn, are bananas and other fruits, while
under the table there is a pile of cocoa-nuts, and sugar-cane is stacked
along the sides of the temple. The four Brahmans then stand in queue
before the table and facing the altar, each one holding a plate of
popcorn. They each recite a different mantra and these four mantras
" "
are called Mahaveja-tu'k ", Korayah-tu'k ", Saravah-ta'k ",
' *
and Ve j a-tu'k ' '
respectively. They then together recite a mantra called

11
Loripavay ". These recitations are punctuated by conch blowing
by the other Brahmans, the conches being blown thirteen times in all,
the thirteenth blast marking the conclusion of the part of the first
ceremony. The Brah Mahd Raja Gru then rises and advances to the
table and faces the altar. He consecrates the offerings of fruit (known
collectively as ulup or utup) by sprinkling it with consecrated water.

He then, while standing before the altar, completes the consecration
by swinging the candlestick and ringing the bell as before, while the
conches are also sounded. He then reads a passage from one of the
sacred books and offers flowers in a saucer at the altar. Having done
this he retires and the candles on the tables are extinguished, and the
cocoa-nut is removed from the top of the heap of pop-corn. In its place
four jars of fruit are placed on the pop-corn. The four Brahmans
who had previously officiated now go up in turn and each takes one
of the jars of fruit and holds it up, at the same time
reciting a short
text. This process is known as yak
ulup (" raising the ulup "), that is
to say, offering the fruit to the gods.
Finally the ulup is distributed
among those assembled that they may eat it and thus secure good
luck. This concludes the rites for the day in the Siva
temple but ;
the same proceedings are

immediately repeated in the middle temple,
that of Ganesa.
On the eighth day of the waxing moon, at the break of dawn, the
Brah Mahd Raja Gru carries three wooden panels out of the
Temple.
Each is four cubits long and one cubit broad. One of them has the
figures of the Sun (Brah Adit) and the Moon (Brah Candra) carved
upon another has the figure of the Goddess of Earth
it,
(Nan Brah
Dharani), and the third has the figure of Ganga (Brah Ganga). I have
inspected these panels when they were in the Brahman Temple, where
they are usually kept behind the altar of Siva. They are carved in
Ayudhya painted and gilded, and probably date from the first
style,
reign of the present dynasty. Nan Dharani is the usual female figure
represented as wringing out water from hor long hair Gaiiga is a ;
male figure and the Sun and Moon are

;
represented as discs beneath
a gilded tiered umbrella, carved in low relief. These
panels, which
thus represent some of the lesser gods that have come to wait
upon
Siva, are brought to pits which are situated in front of the three
jamrams and are enclosed within rdjavdt fences. The pits are paved
with bricks and spread over with darbha
grass (hya gd), and each pit
is supposed to be one cubit broad and four
fingers deep. But since
the enclosures are set up at the side of the hard macadamized
road,
I noticed that
nowadays the Brahmans are content to make an
artificial pit of
clay raised on the surface of the road. One of the
panels is placed in each of the pits, and made to lean against the
enclosing fences. The figures of the Sun and Moon are placed in the
eastern pit, that of Nan Dharani in the middle
pit, and that of Ganga
in the western one.
They are kept there for three days, and are
taken back to the temple on the twelfth
day of the waxing moon
at dawn. 1
It is
commonly thought that the lowering of the panels into the
pits causes the weather to be cold during the days that
they remain
in the pits. But no
explanation is offered as to why it should be so.
As King Kama V remarks in his book : "We only hear the people
1
The surrounded by rajavdt fences are referred to by Graham
pits
(Siam, ii,
p. 268), as sentry boxes in which the Brahmans intone
prayers !
shout that the boards have been placed in the pits, and so it is
very
cold. Probably they speak without knowing why it should be so,
and simply because it is fashionable to make a remark like that. For
it is
naturally cold in the second month, and the people begin to
murmur. Then some old man will observe that it will be colder still
if the panels are lowered into the pits in the third month. He
speaks
as if it were a sober fact, without
knowing that they are not placed
in the pits in the third month, but
during the Tnyambavay, long before
the third month/'
The rites already described as taking place in the Siva and Ganesa
temples are repeated each evening until the first day of the waning
moon, on which day a much fuller series of rites is performed, because
it is on this
day that îva leaves this world and Visnu arrives. At
dawn the Brahmans gather in the Visnu temple, and the Brah Mahd
"
Raja Cru reads the hymn Opening of the Portals of Kailasa ", as
an invitation to Visnu to come down. In the evening they again
gather together in the Visnu temple, and conduct worship along the
lines of the rites already described as
taking place in the other two
temples.
At night, as soon as the moon has risen, there is a procession,
'"
generally known as theProcession of Naresvara ", when Siva leaves
this world. The procession of Brahmans goes to the Grand Palace,
where the King presents to them three small
images, representing
Siva,Uma, and Ganesa respectively. At the same time fireworks,
representing the Pdrijata Tree of Indra's paradise, arc let off oiitside
the palace wall. It used to be the custom for the kings of the
Ayudhya
period to follow the procession up to the temple, and this custom
was also practised by King Kama IV. The procession which I witnessed
on 4th January, 1931, was made up as follows
approximately :
File of lictors bear- Metal Drum File of hctors bear-

ing lotus-lamps. Jj m h Maha Raja Grii
ing lotus-lamps.
File of red and gold Brahmans blowing flageolets and conches and gold
File of red
drummers. drummers.
File of umbrellas Palanquin bearing the three small images File of umbrellas
and sunshades. and a large image of Siva as Nataraja and sunshades.
Brahmans bearing Palanquin bearing image of Ganea
'
Brahmans bearing
multiple candle-
multiple candle-
sticks, sticks.
Processional urn- Processional urn-

brellas and sun- brellas and sun-
shades, shades.
When the procession has returned to the

Siva temple the ceremony
proceeds after the following preparations have been made At the :
eastern end of the temple (i.e. that furthest from the

altar) there is
placed a small low table called the Bhadrapitha, which is adorned

with little heaps of coloured powder just as is the Bhadrapitha Throne
used at the Coronation. On another low stand beside it are placed
a conch shell, a silver water-pot (Jclasa), and four cups of different
metals, and one of crystal, called collectively pencagarbha,
1
which are
filledwith consecrated water. On the stand are also placed five candle-
sticks with candles, and a small shrine with
pointed prdsdda spire
beneath which the three small images (each only about two inches high)
are placed on arrival from the palace. A dish on a tall stand bearing small
offerings of food rolled in plantain leaves, lighted candles, and incense

sticks, is also placednear to the Bhadrapitha, and the bell, branched
candlestick, and other paraphernalia are placed near at hand. Mean-
while, in the middle of the temple the small swing-posts have been
decorated with banana leaves, a cradle has been
suspended from the
cross-beam, and on it has been fastened the gilded figure of a swan
(hansa) with its head facing eastwards (PL XXXIX). On the floor
before the hansa is placed a stone mortar
(sildpat) which is called
"
the mountain" (pdb hot). On the stone mortar there is engraved
a special yantra diagram, while a metal
plate inscribed with another
2
yantra is placed in the silver water -pot.
The Brah Malwi Raja Gru takes his seat on the white cloth before
the Bhadrapitha and the ceremonies begin. He first
performs the
ts "
purificatory rites, and the ceremony of raising the ulnp is again
carried out as already described. But on this occasion the
pop-corn
is reserved for
presentation to the King, and is not distributed among
those present. The High Priest then recites two mantras called
"
"Bran Sar and " Torabat ", pours the water out of the pcnca-
garbha into the silver water-pot, and offers incense, candles, and flowers
to the gods. Then he dedicates the conch and
water-pot by ringing the
bell and waving the branched candlestick before
them, while conches
are blown. He reads the texts for bathing the swan, rises from his
seat,and walks towards the swing. He places his foot upon the stone
mortar, and pours sacred water from the water-pot on to the swan's
head, and makes thumb-marks with paste on its neck, while conches
are blown continuously. He lights a
large candle that is fixed upon
the swan's beak, and then he kneels, rings the bell, and waves the
1
Gerini in Ge. "
174, supposes that pcncagarbha means
(1), p. five receptacles ";
but Mr. P. the Royal Institute, Bangkok, is of opinion that Gerini was
S. Sastri of
misled by the Siamese spelling of the word which more
probably refers to the Indian
pancha-gavya, i.e. the five products of the cow. The Siamese Brahmans have lost
the use of pancha-gavya, but retain the use of the five
cups which appear to have-
been formerly connected with it.
8
See Plate IV.
PLATE
[From a e Author*
CEREMONY IN THE SIVA

candlestick before the swan, first with one candle lighted, then with all,
conches being sounded. He then returns to his seat and reads a text
inviting &va, Urna, and Ganes*a (Fig. 5). He takes a large bowl of red-
gold and pours into it the contents of a number of scent bottles brought
by the onlookers. He takes the three small images from under the
prdsdda spire, lifting them by means of pieces of cotton fastened to
them, and places them in the bowl, the scented water reaching up
to
the middle of each image. He then anoints the three images
by
pouring water on them from the conch and from the water-pot, while
the conches are sounded. He makes a mudrd sign with his hands, 1
liftsthe three images out of the bowl, places them on his head, and then
carefully sets them upon the Bhadrapitha, after which he reads the
" " "
texts called Sar hlvan ", Malai ", and Sanval ". Then he takes
the three images from the Bhadrapitha, places them in a smaller
red-gold bowl filled with rose-petals, and, rising from his seat, walks
towards the swan. Holding the bowl with the images in his left hand,
and a large lighted candle in his right hand, he walks three times
round the swan, pausing each time that he passes the mortar to put
his foot upon it, which action is each time marked
by the blowing of
conches. The images are then taken from the bowl by two other
Brahmans, who place them on the swan, and light a number of candles
on the body of the swan and at the four corners of the swing-cradle.
The Brah Mahd Raja Gru then rings the bell and waves the
candles before the swan while conches are sounded. From time to
time after this the two Brahmans seated near by
gently rock the
swing. The High Priest, having now returned to his seat, proceeds
to read the texts for offering
worship to the swan and to the
"mountain". He reads the "praise of Kailasa", just as he does
when the King sits upon the Bhadrapitha Throne during the Corona-
tion, and also reads the texts for " sending Uma ". He offers Binesa
Water (ndm binesa), lights eight candles which are adorned with
flowers and set up towards the eight cardinal
points, and goes around
them reciting " Tro Dvara ". Two Brahmans then recite " Ja Kiom
Hansa " (lulling the swan ?) just as is done when the
royal children
are placed in the cradle for the first time, and conch shells are blown.
Then the Brah Mahd Rdja Gru recites " San Sar"
" (sending news ?),
San Brah Pen Cau " (sending the gods), and " Pit Dvara givalai "
(closing the gates of Kailasa). Meanwhile the scented water in the
large red-gold bowl, mixed, of course, with the consecrated water
from the conch and water-pot with which the
images had been
1
Only one mudrd is known to the Siamese Court Brahmans, and this is the only
occasion on which it is used.
anointed, is poured back into the scent bottles and returned to the
owners, who receive the precious liquid with evident satisfaction.
A Brahman also makes his way amongst the spectators, sprinkling
the heads of all those present with a little of the sacred mixture.
This brings the ceremony for the night to a close the rites performed
;
in the Siva temple after the return of the procession

being known
collectively as Jd Hansa.
If I be permitted to hazard an explanation of the above complicated
rites of Jd Hansa, I would suggest that they are expressive of two
ideas, as follows :
(1) Siva, Uma, and Ganeâ, on their last night on
earth, are undergoing a kind of consecration or abhiseka to fit them
to carry out their duties for the benefit of mankind during the next
twelve months. Hence the Bhadrapitha throne, the anointment, and
the recitation of the same mantras that are used at the King's Corona-
tion. There is nothing remarkable about this if we bear in mind the
audacity of the Brahmans of Ancient India the Brah Mahd Raja

;
Gru is simply acting the part of Brihaspati, the purohita of the gods
(2) The rites connected with the Jiansa are a magical imitation of the
homeward journey of the gods designed to help them on their way.
Admittedly the swan is the traditional mount of Brahma, but that is
a minor modification after a lapse of so many centuries. Besides,
Brahma is forgotten and a swan is surely a swifter steed than Siva's
bull or Gamma's The stone mortar is called the " mountain ",
rat.
presumably Mount Kailasa, the home of the Saivic deities. The

images are placed upon the swan's back, and the swan faces the
" "
mountain and is rocked gently towards it, while the mantras
" "
sending the gods and " closing the door of Kailasa " are recited.
It seems that one could hardly wish for a clearer example of imitative
magic. There are other rites which are unexplained, and may relate
to other ideas but my suggestions, which are only tentative, appear
;
to afford a satisfactory explanation of the ceremony as a whole.

On the following morning (second of the waning), the Brah Mahd
Raja Gru and other Brahmans take the ulup which had been dedicated
to the gods the night before and present it to the King. It consists
of two plates of khau man (half-ripe padi, husked and pounded flat),
tender cocoa-nuts, plantain fruits, sugar-cane, and many kinds of cakes.
On the first and fifth days of the waning moon, shadow plays
(hndn) are shown in a shed opposite the Brahman Temple. This
feature, together with the letting off of fireworks outside the palace,
was introduced in the reign of King Rama IV, presumably to increase
the popularity of the ceremony with the people.
The ceremony of " raising the ulup " continues to be performed
every evening in the temple of Visnu only, until the fifth day of the
waning moon, when a procession goes at night to the Grand Palace,
and a small image of Visnu is carried back to the temple. Then, in
celebration of that god's return to his celestial abode, the rites are
carried out in full as on the first of the waning, but this time, of course,
in the Visnu temple. This concludes the festival of Trlydmbavdy
Trlgavay, except for a Buddhist modification, introduced by King
Rama IV, in which a chapter of eleven monks is invited to recite
Buddhist texts in the Brahman Temple, and is presented with
food on the following morning. At the same time that the monks are
being fed, the poor people bring their children to the annual public
Tonsure Ceremony, performed by the Brahmans free of charge.
CHAPTER XXI
THE FIRST PLOUGHING 1
The Ceremony of the First Ploughing, known as Bidhi Carat
Brah Ndngdla, or popularly as Eek Nd, is entirely Brahmanical, and
it takes place outside the city in the Crown padi field called Dun
Jam Poy in the sixth month (Vaisakha). The date fixed for the
ceremony must be a Sabha tiihi, a Purna rksa, or a Sambhah
grauhha day, and not a Phi phlia day. In selecting the date
for the Ceremony it is necessary only to be particular about the above
factors ;
it does not matter if the date be inauspicious for any other
reason. In the sixth month the Phi phlia days are the 1st, 5th, 7th,
and 15th of the waxing moon, and the 1st, 5th,
8th, 9th, 10th, 11 th,
and 14th of the waning moon. The Sabha
6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 13th,
tithi days are merely those not included among the Phi phlia
days. Purna rksa days are the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, llth, 14th,
17th, 22nd, 24th, and 27th days of the month. The Sambhah grauhha
days are Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.
On the afternoon of the same day that the Buddhist monks carry
out the special image of the Buddha in procession in connection with
the minor degree of the Barnna Sdtra, the Brahmans also carry in
procession the images of the Hindu gods to the Crown padi fields,
where they place them on an altar in a ceremonial pavilion, and where
they perform their rites along the usual lines, as fully described in the
last chapter.
For the Ploughing Ceremony it is still the custom for the King to
appoint a temporary substitute (PI. XL), who in this case is always
the Minister of Agriculture, the successor of the ancient Baladeba, or
Head of the Department of Lands. Like the " temporary king "
who presides over the Swinging (a post also filled by the Baladeba
until King Kama IV's time) this dignitary has, as will be shown in
what been shorn of his power, and no longer enjoys the
follows,
perquisites which he used to during the three days of his annual reign.
On the morning of the day fixed for the Ploughing Ceremony the
" "
temporary king is carried on a palanquin in procession to the
Crown padi field. This procession consists only of ceremonial drummers ,
processional umbrella-bearers, a bodyguard bearing ancient weapons,

and pages carrying the insignia of the Minister, there being no pageant
such as characterizes the procession to the Swing. On arrival at the
1
Sources :
BRB., pp. 395 sqq. ; NN., pp. 78 sq, ; KM . ; HV.
'
256
PLATE XL.
tk "
PROCESWTON OK THK TEMPORARY KrNO AT THE
FESTIVAL,
PLATK XU.
THE FIRST PLOUGHING.

field, which is protected from the intrusion of evil spirits by rdjavdt

fences erected at each corner, the presiding official descends from
his palanquin and .goes to the pavilion of the Brahmans and lights
incense sticks before the images of the deities. He then selects one
of three pha-nun offered to him by the Brahmans, and attires himself
in one of them in the manner known
as pdv khun, already mentioned
in connection with the Swinging.These three pha-nuh are of different
lengths, and great importance attaches to his choice. Should he
choose the longest the prognostication is that the rainfall will be
abundant ;
should he choose the shortest there will be too little, while
his choice of the one of medium length denotes that the rainfall will
be average. He then takes the gilded handle of the plough, which
has been wrapped in red cloth by the Brah Mahd Raja Gru, and whips
up the pair of magnificent oxen caparisoned in harness of red velvet
and gold thread, while the Brahmans blow the conches. He then
ploughs three concentric furrows, the Brahmans blowing the conches
at the conclusion of each circuit. Four dowager ladies of the nobility,
called nan devi, then outer the field and hand to the Minister two
silver and two gold rice baskets, containing seed-rice, hallowed by the
mantras of the Brahmans and also of the Buddhist monks, which he
scatters as he ploughs three more concentric furrows (PL XLI), while
an official scatters holy water, an offering to the Goddess of Earth.
Then the oxen are unyoked and seven vessels are placed before them
containing respectively padi, Indian corn, beans, sesamum, rice-spirit,
water, and grass, and whichever commodity the animals choose to
partake of will be plentiful during the coming year. This ends the
" "
ceremony, and the temporary king then departs in state, but the
vast concourse of people who have gathered to witness the proceedings,
many of them having come from up-country, now burst on to the field
and gather up the hallowed rice grains, which, mixed with their own
seed-rice, are said to be very efficient fertilizers. Ploughing is also
carried out simultaneously in two or three provincial centres by a
local official deputed by the king.
It had never been the custom during the Bangkok period for the
King himself to watch the proceedings at the Ploughing Ceremony

until on 21st April, 1912, King Rama VI witnessed the ceremony,
and thus abolished what remained of a custom which had grown to
remarkable proportions during the Ayudhya period. The KM.
says :
"
Carat Brah Ndngdla takes place in the month of Vaisakha.
Can Brahyd Cdnda Kumdra [a title of the temporary king] pays
homage to the king in the hall of worship (hd brah). The king gives
him the sword of State (brah kharga) and thus gives up his prerogatives
(dran brah karundlat brah parama deja) he does not give orders nor
:
call for the officers, nor leave the palace (mi tai bc'k luk khun mi tai
satec ok). As for the Brahyd Cdnda Kumdra, he has a mount for
getting upon elephant-back, as if he were a king. He proceeds in
state from the Buddhist temple, and for three days he entertains
and nobles who take part in the procession." Khun Hlvan
officials
"
Ha Vat makes mention of the ceremony as follows Brah Inda :
Kumdra [temporary king] represents the king and Nan Devi

impersonates the queen. They go to Tun Kev by boat, both wearing
crowns. On land they proceed on silver palanquins symbols of ;
royalty are carried in their procession the persons who follow them
;
" "
are called Mahhdtlek and nobles armed with canes walk abreast
;
the palanquin and make way. Brah Inda Kumdra yokes the bulls to
the plough, and Brahyd Baladeba leads them forward [from this it
appears that the temporary king was not necessarily the Baladeba].
Nan Devi carries the basket of padi and sows the seeds. After the
plough has been driven round thrice the bulls arc unyoked and
allowed to eat the three kinds of rice, three kinds of pulse, and three
kinds of grass. Predictions are made according to what the bulls eat."
from the above that in the Ayudhya period the wife
It appears
" "
of the temporary king was also accorded the honour of a
"
temporary queen ", and played the part now filled by the dowager
ladies. Khun Hlvah Ha Vat makes no mention of the king giving
up the sword of State, and it may be that this feature had already
been dropped out in his time.
In the Ayudhya period, and indeed during the early decades of
the Bangkok period, it is said that the Baladeba was rewarded with
the junks that came in during the Ploughing Ceremony just as he was
with those that came in during the Swinging Ceremony, provided
that he maintained his proper position with one leg raised during
the swinging. He also collected the Kdmtdk taxes, as recorded by
Khun Hlvan Ha Vat, as follows: "During the three days of the
rite, Brah Inda Kumdra has the right to take for himself all the boats,
carts, and junks of the traders which come into the kingdom during
that time. Again, the agents and servants of Brah Inda Kumdra are
entitled to collect the taxes on markets and ferry boats everywhere.
They are called Dandy Kdmtdk ". The statement that Brah Inda
Kumdra was entitled to take the carts and boats that arrived on the
days of the ceremony seems to mean that he seized all the merchandise
that came in. But King Rama V states l that in truth it refers only
1
Loc. cit.
to the tolls levied on boats and carts, which were assigned to him
as his reward. He
could not have had this income every year, for
trade was then insignificant, and a junk or caravan of carts could not
have always arrived during the days of the ceremony. The income
that he derived regularly, every year, was the daily levy on markets
and ferry boats which fell due on the days of the ploughing.
For the Sukhodaya period Lady Nabamasa l supplies us with a
very valuable account of the Ploughing Ceremony : "In the sixth
month we have the ceremony of Carat Brah angola. N The Brahmans
'
gather together, tie the vow/ and take the images of the gods
to the hall of ceremony in Dim
LaJihdn Hlvan, opposite
the
the Han Kliau palace. The king dresses like an Indian (ydn desa)
and goes in procession on horse-back. The queen, the princes, and
ladies of the harem who have been chosen by the king follow him
in their carriages. Ok Na Baladeba dressed as a prince (luJc hlvan)
conies in procession, the Brahmans walking before him blowing
conch shells and scattering pop-corn. When he has arrived at the
shed in the middle of the Lahhdn, the king's bulls [i.e. the sacred bulls]
are led out and yoked to the golden plough. The Brah Mafia Raja
Gru gives the plough and goad to Ok Na Baladeba, who pays homage
to the king and ploughs first. Then Brah Sri Mahosath, father of
Nan Nabamasa, dressed in white in the manner of the Brahmans,
ploughs with the silver plough, followed by Brah Vadhaneh SresthI
dressed as a commoner (yan gahapatl), who ploughs with the plough
covered with red cloth. The king's astrologers sound the gong of
victory and play upon musical instruments. The Baladeba and the
others go around ploughing from left to right. The Brahmans lead
the plough, blowing conch-shells, scattering pop-corn and flowers,
and sounding the pandahvah drum. Khun Paripurna Dhanna, the
superintendent of the king's farms, follows and sows seeds in the
furrows. The event is celebrated with dancing and acrobatic feats
all around the place. The bulls are unyoked and given five kinds of
food to eat, from which the Brahman astrologers declare the omens.
At the same time the queen asks her maid to set a dish of sweet
porridge before the king, and the king's servants then distribute
the porridge among the officials." In the above account the important
point to note is that in the Sukhodaya period the king retained his
power in full, was present during the ceremony, and merely deputed
the Baladeba to plough for him, the other two officials representing
respectively the Brahmans and the people.
Ploughing ceremonies are of world- wide distribution, but for our
1
NN., p. 78.
purpose it is sufficient to note that in both the* two main centres of
civilization, India and China, from which the Siamese ceremony

i.e.
might have been derived, there were Ploughing Ceremonies in antiquity.

At the Court of China a Ploughing Ceremony was instituted about
5,000 years ago, and until recent times the Emperor ploughed several
furrows and scattered the seed. The corn grown on the holy field
was collected and used by the Emperor in certain solemn sacrifices to
the god Chan Ti and to his own ancestors. In the provinces of China
the season of ploughing was similarly inaugurated by the provincial
1
governors as representatives of the Emperor. In Ancient India we
have at least two classical examples of a Ploughing Ceremony. In the
Rdmdyana recorded that on such an occasion the child Sita,
it is
who later married Rama, was found by the officials in a furrow

ploughed by Janaka, King of Mithila. Again, there is the famous
instance associated with the miracle of the child Buddha, when lie
caused the shadow of the jambu-tree to stand still (PL XLII) :--
"
Now one day the king held the so-called Ploughing Festival.
On that day they ornament the town like a palace of the gods. All
the slaves and servants, in new garments and crowned with sweet-
smelling garlands, assemble in the king's house. For the king's work
a thousand ploughs are yoked. On this occasion one hundred and
eight minus one were, with the oxen-reins and cross-bars, ornamented
with silver. But the plough for the king to use was ornamented with
red gold and so also the horns and reins and goads of the
;
oxen. The king leaving his house with a great retinue, took his son
and went to the spot the raja clad in splendour and attended
. . .
by his ministers, went away to plough. At such a time the king

takes hold of a golden plough, the attendant ministers ono hundred
and eight minus one silver ploughs, and the peasants the rest of the
ploughs. Holding them they plough this way and that way. The
raja goes from one side to the other, and comes from the other back
again. On this occasion the king had great success." 2
In weighing the evidence in favour of a Chinese or of an Indian
origin of the Siamese Ploughing Ceremony it will be of value first
to consider the ploughing ceremonies as performed in the neighbouring
countries, Cambodia and Burma. The ceremony as still performed
in Cambodia 3 is similar in all but insignificant details to the ceremony
as performed at Ayudhya, the Okhna PohuUa-tep (Minister of Agri-
culture) and his wife going in state to the Crown padi field where the
former ploughs while the king remains within his palace, the ploughing
1 OB. 14 sq.
viii, p.
2
T. W. Rhys Davids, The Nidana-Katha, or Commentarial Introduction to the
Buddhist Birth Stories, p. 163.
3
Lecl&rc, Revue Indochinoise, 15 aout 1904.
PLATE XML
I
From painHny by a Situnew artist.
A SIAMESE REPRESENTATION OF THE MIRACLE of THE

JAMBU-TRKE.
[To face page QQ,

being followed by omens drawn from the selection of food made by

the oxen. Probably at an earlier period the Khmer kings were them-
selves present at, the ploughing, just as it was at Sukhodaya, and I
think we need not hesitate to take the step of deducing that when the
Thai obtained their freedom from the Khmer yoke they adopted the
Ploughing Ceremony in toto from them.
Now a study of the Burmese first ploughing ceremony (or Letwin
Mingala) as performed in the reign of Mindon Min, the last king of
Burma but one, is by no means fruitless. 1 The most important
difference between this and the Siamese and Cambodian festivals is
that in Burma
the chief part was performed by the king himself, who
arrived in procession riding on the white elephant. Not only the king
ploughed, with a gilded plough, but a long line of ordinary ploughs

was ready drawn up for the ministers and high officials who also
ploughed, and were obliged to continue long after the king had ceased.
No scattering of seed and no omens from the oxen's choice of food
are mentioned in Shway Yoe's account, and apparently the actual
2
ploughing was the main, if not the only, part of the ceremony. Harvey
mentions a Ploughing Ceremony performed by King Bagyidaw
(1819-37), and also an ancient one dating back to the early Pagan
period :
"
When Htuntaik, 569 82, a traditional chief of Pagan, was
performing the rite, the oxen shied at his vestments flapping in the
3
wind, and dragged the plough over him so that he died.
The Burmese Ploughing Ceremony probably never influenced the
Siamese or Cambodian form of the rite indeed, it is probably to the
;
fact that there was so little cultural contact between Burma and Siam
that the preservation in Burma of a very ancient form of the
we owe
ceremony which has much in common with the ploughing as performed
in Ancient India. Thus we see surviving in a State of Indo -China
down to modern times two features that were common to the ancient
Indian Ploughing Festival (1) the king himself guiding the plough,
:
and (2) the use of a number of ploughs, and the participation of

the ploughing. We have seen that at Sukhodaya three
officials in
ploughs were used, and that two of these were guided by the repre-
sentatives of theBrahman s and of the people respectively, evidently
a reduction from the grander scale on which the ceremony was carried
out in Ancient India. And I think we cannot resist the conclusion
that at an early period the Khmer King himself ploughed in person. 4
1
Shway Yoc, The Bvrman, chap. xxiv.
History of Burma, pp. 295 and 362.
2 3
Hmannani, 218.
4
Or we might have to go further back to DvaravatI or Srivijaya.
The above evidence, and the fact that from. Sukhodaya onwards
the ceremony has always been attended and in part performed by
the Brahmans, leaves little room for doubt that the ceremony as %
known in Siam during historical times was derived from India ;
and were it not that we know that there was also a Ploughing Ceremony
in China, we should hardly be inclined to cast an eye in that direction.
Yet I think we cannot entirely rule out Chinese influence. The only
early writer on Siam who attempted to explain the custom wafc La
Loubere, who evidently believed it to be of Chinese origin. He says :
"I suspect that this custom of causing the lands to be ploughed

by the Prince, came from China to Tonquin, and Siam, with the
l
Art of Husbandry."
And the Jesuit fathers have placed it on record that the kings of
Tonquin and Cochin-China in the seventeenth century took an active
part in an annual ploughing ceremony held at their capitals. These
countries have a purely Chinese civilization, and doubtless received
the rite from their great neighbour. An important point of resemblance
between the practice of Siam and China is the simultaneous ploughing
of provincial governors at the same time that the state ceremony was
performed in the capital. Thus it is very probable that the early

Thai of Yunnan came in contact with some such Chinese provincial
ceremony and carried with them the memory of it when they migrated
southwards. We may
therefore conclude that the early Thai were
probably in possession of a Chinese form of the Ploughing Ceremony,

but as they came in contact with the Khmers their early culture
became almost entirely obscured by superimposed Brahmanism, so
that the Siamese form of the Ploughing Ceremony, as known in
historical times, retains perhaps no features which would enable us
to state definitely that the Thai were in possession of an earlier Chinese
form of the Ceremony.
There seems to be no doubt but that ploughing ceremonies,
wherever performed, had primarily the object of ensuring a plentiful
2
crop by means of magic. Frazer compares the ploughing of the
Karian plain at Eleusis to the little sacred rice-fields on which the
Kayans of central Borneo inaugurated the various operations of the
agricultural year by performing them in miniature, and he concludes :
"
All such consecrated enclosures were probably in origin what we
may call spiritual preserves, that is, patches of ground which men set
apart for the exclusive use of the corn spirit to console him for the
depredations they committed on all the rest of his domains."
1 a
L. L., p. 20. GB. viii, pp. 14 and 15.
That the Siamese rite has passed beyond this stage is evidenced by
t
the fact that the people pick up all the grain and do not allow it to
germinate on the^ Crown padi field as a reserve for the gods or spirits.
Nevertheless, the offerings made to the Brahmanic deities in the
ceremonial pavilion on the fieldpoint to some such idea having
obtained at an earlier time. King Rama V
expresses his opinion as
to the object of the ceremony in the following words :
"
The object of the king himself (or his substitute) ploughing
first is to set an example to his people and induce them to be
industrious in cultivating the land." I cannot agree with this;

for although it no doubt expresses the functional value of the ploughing
" "
at the time King Rama V
wrote and gives his object in main-
taining it, there was undoubtedly some earlier magical significance

now forgotten and distinct from the functional value. This is
indicated in both Siam and Cambodia, where it was formerly prohibited
for the common people to commence to plough their land before the
ceremony had been carried out, and by our whole theory of the raison
"
d'etre of temporary kings ", as explained in the next chapter. King
Rama V goes on to explain the subsidiary elements in the Ploughing
"
Ceremony as follows The ritualistic elements [i.e. the omens drawn
:
from the length of the Baladeba's skirt, and from the oxen's choice of
food, and also the fertilizing value of the hallowed grain] have been
added to the simple act of ploughing because people are afraid of
calamities like droughts, floods, and insect pests, and desire to secure
an abundant harvest. They also need to know of the future before-
hand, so that they can determine how to remedy what they fear and
contrive what they desire." Here King Rama V is on firmer ground.
The Brahmanical soothsaying and the value attached to the hallowed
grain as a fertilizer, the latter a good example of contagious magic,
are definitely later accretions, added after the significance of the
ploughing had been largely forgotten, to strengthen the efficacy of

the ceremony. And it is to these later rites that is due the sociological
value of the Ploughing Ceremony in Siam at the present day. The great
crowd of people, a large proportion of whom are farmers seriously
in the proceedings, anxiously study the length of the Bala-
interested^
deba's phd-nun, and the omens declared from the oxen's choice of
and it may be said they are seldom disappointed with the auguries. 1
food,
The actual ploughing has little or no meaning to them, but these
1
Hero is the latest example as recorded by the Bangkok Times for 22nd April,
1931 : " The forecast states that the supply of rice, fish, meat, and fruits will be good,
while at the beginning and towards the end of the season there will be abundant rainfall
and during the middle it will be good. The supply of water will be sufficiently good."
omens usually are such as to have the effect pf quieting their fears
and of enabling them to go home and start their labours with a
light heart and every confidence in the future. Again, it is said
,
that inspection of the field after the crowd has dispersed with the
coveted seed-rice has failed to reward the searcher with a single grain.
This surely provides a useful index as to the continued sociological
value of the ceremony. Should the Government ever have any
intention of abolishing it, I suggest that a suitable time will have
come when an official inspection of the Crown padi field, on the day
following the First Ploughing, reveals an appreciable quantity of the

sacred grain.
CHAPTER XXII
TEMPORARY KINGS
In this chapter an atttmpt will he made to define the functional
" "
value of the Siamese custom of appointing Temporary Kings on
certain occasions. We have encountered phenomenon in four
this
of the State Ceremonies considered in this book, namely the Ploughing,
Swinging, Tonsure, and Dhanya-daha. The table on page 267 sums
up the known data which bear on this problem, and although there
are gaps and no one ceremony gives us the complete story of the
rise and fall of the Temporary King, nevertheless, by combining our
evidence, we are able to trace the evolution of the institution. We

can also distinguish five stages in this evolution which do not, however,
bear an exact relationship to the four historical periods under which
the evidence has been classified on the table.
These stages are as follows :
Stage I : The King performed the chief role in the ceremony

himself.
Stage II The King appointed a substitute to perform his role

:
in the ceremony, but was himself present as a spectator.

"
Stage III The substitute became a Temporary King ", usurping
:
the King's power, and enjoying royal privileges, while the

King practically abdicated for the duration of the ceremony.
Stage IV The " Temporary King " still performed the chief role,
:
but was shorn of his power and privileges, and the King was
again present as a spectator. This is a return to Stage II.
Stage V: The "Temporary King" is abolished, and the King
resumes his role as the chief personage in the ceremony. This
is a return to Stage I, but has as
yet been reached only in the
Tonsure and Dhanya-daha Ceremonies.
Frazer deals with the subject of Temporary Kings in The Golden
1
Bough, where he rightly concludes that,
"
The Cambodian and Siamese examples shew clearly that it is
especially the divine or magical functions of the king which are trans-
ferred to his temporary substitute."
He considers these examples as comparable to the annual appoint-

ment of temporary kings in Samarcand, Upper Egypt, and Morocco,
1
GB. iv, chapter 5.
265
and to the appointment in certain emergencies of a substitute for the

Shah of Persia to protect him against some threatened evil. The
underlying idea seems to he that the magical or divine functions of
a king are a source of danger to him, and in countries where the welfare
of the State depends so much on the welfare of the monarch, it would
be natural to make use of every precaution to protect him against
danger. The sociological value of the institution of the Temporary
King was that gave the king and the people the required confidence
it
to enable them
to carry out very important State Ceremonies in the
belief that all danger of evil was thereby averted. This theory is
supported by valuable evidence supplied by La Loubere to the effect
that in the seventeenth century, when the power of Temporary Kings
was at its height, there definitely was a tradition that the performance
of divine or magical functions was attended with danger :
"
For about an Age since, and upon some superstitious Observation
of a bad Omen, he labours no more ; but leaves this ceremony to an
imaginary King, which is purposely created every year. . And
. .
by the same superstition has deterred the Kings themselves. It is looked

x
upon as ominous and unlucky to the person."
Two features characteristic of the third stage, that in which the
conception of the Temporary King reaches its highest development,

are of special interest. They are to some extent complementary.
On the one hand, the Temporary King has special privileges and royal
prerogatives, and is rewarded by certain levies and tolls on the other
;
hand, should he not perform his duties properly, or, in the case of the
Swinging Ceremony, fail to keep one leg raised from the ground when
watching the swinging, he was deprived of his rank and otherwise
treated with indignity. These are mild forms of features characteristic
of the institution of Temporary Kings wherever found. An example
of an extreme case is provided by the Roman Saturnalia, in which
unusual licence was allowed to the slaves (cf. the licence of the
followers of the in Siam) and a soldier was appointed
Temporary King
as mock king and was afterwards put to death. The rites were
connected with the transference of public evil from the community
as a whole to a chosen victim, and the licence and rewards were simply
the payment considered due to the victim. In Siam we have the same
idea of the transference of evil, though from the King more particularly
than from the community as a whole, but it was never thought
necessary to put the victim to death. Had Siam ever reached the
some other countries, it would have
logical conclusion arrived at in
been in the Ayudhya period, and we should have known of it. It is
L. L., p. 20.
^ S
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268 SIAMESE STATE CEKEMONIES
quite certain that she did not. Buddhism and the extreme respect
for the King's person, or whatever represented it, were a sufficient
guarantee against that. The fact that no very strongly denned evil
ever befell the Temporary King in Siam, provided that he carried
out his duties properly, enabled the selection for this office of a high
someone in keeping with the dignity of a king (in Cambodia,
official, i.e.
a Brahman), who was ready to take the risk of possible danger in
return for the power which he enjoyed during his short reign. This
led, in course of time, to the office becoming an object of desire on the
part of officials, and this, in my is the very factor which led
opinion,
to the decline in the status of Temporary Kings in Siam, represented
by Stages IV and V in which, the raison d'etre of the Temporary King
having been forgotten, the King first appears as a spectator, and finally
resumes his magical or divine functions in person.
Evidence in support of the statement that the object of creating
Temporary Kings in Siam came to be forgotten is supplied by the
following quotations : Sir John Bowring, 1 whose mention of the

matter probably reflects the Siamese ignorance of the question
prevailing in the days of King Kama IV, says :
"
The whole farce is probably intended to throw scorn upon popular
influences and reconcile the subject to the authority of a real King."
Similarly, King Rama V hazards a guess in his book to the effect that
"
The people of Ayudhya wanted to make the ceremony efficacious
by making the deputy seem to be the king himself come to plough."
While, in recent times, H. R.H. Prince Damrong puts forward the

following explanation as to the origin of the Temporary King at the
Swinging Festival :
"
In a certain temple in Cambodia there is a stone inscription
relating to a grant of the use of land to the temple by a Khmer King ;
it is stipulated that, should the King ever come to the

country in which
this temple is situated, the Brahmans must receive him with divine
honours. We may have here the origin of the rites performed by the
Brahmans for the reception of the Phya who presides over our swinging
festival and who represents the sovereign of the
country. During the
course of the swinging ceremonies, this official is still received by the
Brahmans into the city as though he were a god upon one day, and is
2
similarly escorted out of it again by them upon another."
This ingenious, but quite unconvincing, because it offers no

is
explanation of the Temporary King in other Siamese ceremonies, and

fails to take note of the fact that we are dealing with an institution
1
159. 2
Siam, i,
JSS.^ vol. xiii, part 2, 1919, p. 19.
TEMPORARY KINGS 269
of world-wide distribution. Finally, in the last Swinging Festival

(December, 1930) when a Chinese brakyd was chosen to preside, no one
who saw the spirit of elation evinced by the celestials of Bangkok
from merchant down to coolie, and the zeal with which the elaborate
procession was prepared, could have been in the least doubt as to
the extent of the honour believed to have been conferred upon the
Chinese community.
The institution of the Temporary King in Siam. has thus
undoubtedly lost its earlier functional value of enabling the people
to carry out important rites without fear of evil consequences, yet, so
long as it lingers in its modified form in the Swinging and Ploughing

Ceremonies, retains a certain value as a support to ancient tradition
it
and popular respect for the country's past, and nothing that serves
that end and is otherwise harmless should be lightly abolished. For the
popular view would, and does, regard Stage V as a modern innovation,
and not as a return to Stage I, but the annual appearances of the
Temporary King recall time-honoured tradition and the glory of
Ayudhya. Not that there is any probability of Stage V ever being
reached in the Ploughing or Swinging Ceremonies Western influence, ;
and the new belief that a monarch is more usefully occupied in guiding
the prosaic affairs of a modern government than in exercising his
divine and magical functions, are much more likely to bring total
abolition in their train.
As to the origin of the institution of Temporary Kings in Siam,
the fact that the idea was in process of development during the
Sukhodaya period suggests that it was proximatcly derived from
Cambodia, and the Khmers may have received the idea from India,
where the following example of a somewhat similar institution is cited
l
by Frazer :
"
In Bilaspur
it seems to be the custom, after the death of a Rajah,
for a Brahmanto eat rice out of the dead Rajah's hand, and then to
occupy the throne for a year. At the end of the year the Brahman
receives presents and is dismissed from the territory, being forbidden
apparently to return. . The custom of banishing the Brahman
. .
who represents the king may be a substitute for putting him to death."
1
Gn. iv. o. 154.
PART VI
MISCELLANEOUS STATE
CEREMONIES
CHAPTER XXIII
THE WHITE ELEPHANT

I suppose no one feature connected with the countries of Indo-Chma
has contributed more lavishly to the fund of material on which
European writers from the seventeenth century onwards have drawn
in their search for the sensational than has the White Elephant.
This is perhaps not surprising, considering the unusual nature of the
cult connected with this animal, but I shall here endeavour to
confine myself to a discussion of its historical and sociological
importance. I was privileged to witness some of the ceremonies in
connection with the reception of the White Elephant for the present
reign, and I shall therefore base my account on what I saw on that
occasion, while, as regards the past, I shall make extracts from
comparatively little-known sources.
After all that has been written on the subject, it is almost a platitude
to state that the White Elephant is not white, but that it is merely
an albino which, if perfect, should have pink and yellow eyes, a light
reddish-brown skin, white at the edge of the ears and at the top of
the trunk, white toe-nails, and red hair. The term " white elephant" is
a figment of the European imagination, for the Siamese never regarded
it as such, their term Jan Pho'ak meaning simply, albino elephant.
For the moment J the common
be sufficient to state that by
it will
Is
people the capture of a Jan Phtfak at the beginning of every reign

is looked upon as an
auspicious event, and the possession of one or
more of these animals as royal appanages is regarded as an outward
sign, hallowed by ancient custom, of the greatness of the monarchy.
The underlying significance, now rapidly becoming forgotten by the
lower classes, will be discussed later. But it may be said at once that
there never was any actual worship of the White Elephant as commonly
supposed, and there is very little regard for its sanctity, or other
it than that which its
respect for great size and strength naturally
inspire. Even as an auspicious omen at the beginning of a reign it
is doubtful if any Siamese would express himself so enthusiastically
on the subject as did the late King Rama VI in the following passage,
in the speech which he made
early in his reign :
"
During the first year of our reign several portents of the highest
traditional import have made themselves manifest, and the augury
273 T
they convey convinces us that prosperity, and not calamity, shall

continue to be the lot of our Thai Race. The discovery of the Monkey
Standard, the Garu<Ja Standard, and the Bow and Arrow of Rama's
strength are sure manifestations that warriors ha\e not yet ceased to
exist in the Land of the Thai, and inspire us all with confidence that the
defence of our national independence will not be altogether futile.
The appearance of the White Elephant at the same period is likewise
a portent that the Kingdom of Siam will not fall to a low estate, unable
to stand on an equal footing with the nations. All these portents have
created a deep impression upon us, and we doubt not upon the minds
of every one of you also."
The White Elephant for the present reign (PL XLIII) was born in
captivity in 1926, its mother being one of the elephants of the Borneo
Company's herd, employed in the extraction of teak, so its appearance
was not of a very romantic nature. It was presented to the King by the
Company, and the mother was lent until such time as its distinguished
offspring should be weaned. The two elephants were brought down
from the North in a specially constructed railway carriage, supplied
with electric fan and shower-bath, and made several stops of two or
three days* duration en route, in order to give the animals a chance to
rest, and to give the people of some of the provincial towns an
opportunity to pay homage and enjoy the festivities arranged by the

provincial governors to commemorate the auspicious occasion. At
each stopping place the elephants were led to a specially erected
6ald where a chapter of monks intoned appropriate stanzas, and at
9
night the populace were regaled with theatrical performances. At the

last stopping -place, Pan Pah In, a few hours' journey by rail from
Bangkok, and the seat of the King's summer palace, the animals
arrived on 12th November, 1927, and the King, in accordance with
ancient custom, made the journey up-river by launch to meet them.
After inspecting them the King returned to Bangkok by water.
On the 15th the train bearing the elephants arrived at the royal
station at Bangkok. As they were detrained a chapter of monks chanted
stanzas, and the animals then took their place in the elaborate pro-
cession which had been organized for the occasion. The route which
the procession took from the railway station was lined with masses
of people all eager to get a view of the unusual sight but it was
;
certainly only curiosity that inspired them, and not religious awe.
The procession entered the Tusita Park where the elephant stable
1
is situated. I have called it a stable, but it is more properly
1
There are other elephant stables in the Grand Palace, but they are now only
used at times when the White Elephant's presence is required there on a state
occasion, such as the Coronation.
'
PLATJK XJL11L
THE WHITE ELEPHANT OK THE PRESENT RKKSN.
\T<*fttc*> pune 274.

PJ.ATE XLTV.
UBION.
T.IK WHITK ELEPHANT OF THK SIXTH
THE WHITE ELEPHANT 275
designated a brah-di-ndn or palace, and it is certainly built in the

traditional style of Siamese The
temple or palace architecture.
procession was a pageant rather than a state procession in the usual
sense. On its way to the stable it filed
past pavilions accommodating
the King and Queen, the Royal Family, and officials.
Except for the
bearers of ceremonial weapons and standards, and those in
charge of
the young elephant, its mother, and the White
Elephant of the sixth
reign (PL XLIV), the procession was made up entirely of girls mostly
drawn from the ranks of the official classes. There were companies of
girlsdressed in the costumes of various foreign countries, others
dressed to represent flowers, while others were mounted and armed
with breastplates and lances to represent the amazons of ancient
days.
There were companies of dancers, and the masked actors of the Bdmd-
yawi also passed in review. The elephants having reached their
station, the various troupes of actors and acrobats, whose stages were
erected in different parts of the park,
began to perform, ostensibly for
the benefit of the White Elephant, but
perhaps it would be more
truthful to say for the amusement of the
general public, who were
allowed free access to this royal park on the
evenings of the three
days during which the celebrations lasted. Meanwhile, in the
elephant "palace", as soon as the animals had entered it, a
chapter of Buddhist monks intoned formulae, while the Brahmans
also performed their rites in a
special pavilion.
Next morning (16th), the White Elephant was bathed, and the
King arrived to take part in the anointing ceremony. Having lit the
candles of worship before an image of the Buddha, the
King awaited
the auspicious moment
of nine hours, twenty-six minutes and
twenty-
four seconds. The young elephant, who was extremely
playful and
appeared to have no respect for the ceremonies, was securely tied to
upright posts on the inside of the enclosed platform, and the King
mounted a dais on the outside of the rail. At the
auspicious moment
the Head Brahman struck the gong of victory, while other Brahmans
blew conches, the monks began to recite stanzas of
victory, and the
King anointed the White Elephant (PL XLV). He also fed it with red
sugar-cane on which had been inscribed the name by which the animal
was to be known in future, viz. Brah Savetra
Gajedejna Dilok ;
together with a string of titles somewhat similar to those taken by

the King at the time of his coronation, i.e. honorific
epithets of a
kind appropriate either to a King or to a noble White x
Elephant :
1
Carl Bock, who visited Siam in 1881,
gives the full style and title of the White
Elephant then recently captured, which I quote as follows, together with Prince
Prisdang's translation :
The elder members of the Royal Family also took part in the
anointment followed by the Brahmans. The officials of the Elephant
Department then dressed the White Elephant in full state, with the
insignia of the rank of Brdhyd Jan
and a golden cord was jplaced
;
round its neck to signify that the khvdn (spirit) of a Brahyd Jan was
being retained, Miniature trees were placed at the four
corners of
the platform on which the elephants stood. Food was presented
to the monks who had officiated, and the King conferred promotion
and reward upon those who had been connected with the White
Elephant and attended it hitherto. It is obvious that the above
ceremonies must be considered in the light of a form of abhiseka,
the King anointing the White Elephant and conferring upon it a style
and title. Possibly the feeding of the animal with red sugar-cane is a
relic of the sacrament which accompanies coronation ceremonies in
many countries, but ofwhich we have been unable to find any trace in
the Siamese Rdjdbhiseka. The mention of the retention of the khvan
is remarkable, and suggests that the form of abhiseka, which the
ceremonies represent, is rather an initiation than a coronation.
A digression must here be made to consider the accoutrements of
the White Elephant. Some idea of their evolution can be gained by

a comparison with the ancient Khmer bas-reliefs. The harness of
the Siamese White Elephant shows much fewer parts than that of the
elephant depicted on the reliefs of Bakong, which was a common
draught elephant ; it is also simpler than that of the Siamese war-
elephant, because was not usually ridden except by the necessary
it
mahouts, and therefore did not require a howdah. As La Loubere

remarks 1 :
"
The King of Siam never mounts the White Elephant, and the
reason which they give is, that the White Elephant is as great a Lord
as himself, because he has a King's soul like him."
Nevertheless, it appears that the King did ride the White Elephant
in former times in Siam, as is indicated by a passage in the stele of
" Phra
Sawet Sakonla Warophat ake udom chat visute thi mongkon sri sama aakon
loma naka net adisaya sawet viset san komon la phan prom kra khoon paramintara
narane soon siamma tirat pha hana nat mahan tadct kotchcra ratana phiset chaloem
phop kiet kachon chop charocn sak phra chak phon parun vibun aawat akka nakin
ratana phra soet loet fa."
" An
elephant of beautiful colour, hair, nails, and eyes are white. Perfection in
form, with all the signs of regularity of the high family. The colour of the skin is
that of lotus. A descendant of the angel of the Brahmans. Acquired as property
by the power and glory of the king for his service. Is of the highest family of elephants
of all in existence. A source of power of attraction of rain. It is as rare as the
"
purest crystal of the highest value in the world (Temples and Elephants, p. 26).
i L. L.. u. 43.
o
S
PS
H
Kama Gamhen, which? is incidentally the first known mention of the

White Elephant in Siam. The passage is as follows :
"
On the da^s of the new and full moon the King orders the White
Elephant named BucaM to be caparisoned with the saddle ornamented
with gold and ivory on the right and left ; the
King mounts it and goes
to pay his devotions to the venerable chief of the Arannikas and then
returns." l
Similarly, in early times in Burma, the King is referred to as

11
who rides upon a White Elephant
the exalted, " 2
;
and Batuta, who wrote in A.D. 1350, says the King of Ceylon was in the
habit of riding on a White
Elephant on state occasions.
Some of the Khmer reliefs show elephants
wearing crowns, and
3
Groslier illustratesan example which might well represent a White
Elephant with its magnificent mokhut and saddle cloth. The modern
Siamese White Elephant does not wear a crown, but
only a highly
ornamented head-cloth, sometimes in three
overlapping pieces which
might represent the tiers of the mokhut. It also wears a saddle-cloth
ornamented with the royal arms. Groslier 4 also shows examples
of elephant
"
bells ", but the modern White
Elephant does not carry
bells, though it does carry, as also do the other royal elephants,
suspended from its head, a pair of yak's hair tufts, to keep off the evil
spirits, which spring from bell-shaped holders, and appear to be
similar to the bells figured by Groslier. On the other hand, the yak's
tufts are not figured in the reliefs, and
may therefore be a Siamese
addition.
be understood that the attention shown to the
It will
young White
Elephant on its arrival was of short duration, and that it soon faded
from the public eye. It is well known that the White
Elephants were
forgotten and neglected during the dosing decades of lastcentury,
the noble animal does not
enjoy very much royal favour
but, if
nowadays, a growing knowledge of the conditions necessary for the

welfare of animals, coupled with the fact that the White
Elephants
are much in demand as a tourist sight, has led to a general improvement
in their condition, which at present might be described as the
happy
medium between the total neglect which was their lot
during preceding
decades and the pampered state which
they enjoyed, and which often
brought about their death from indigestion, in the days of Old Siam.
The reception of the young White
Elephant and its mother in 1927
1
Coedes, Inscriptions de Sukhodaya, p. 47 ;
Bradley's translation of this passage
in JSS. vi, is inaccurate.
2
Epigraphia Birmanica, vol. i, part 2, M6n inscription, iii, face D.
3 *
Or., Fig. 68. Gr., Fig. 67.
was, of course, only a revival brought about by & King with antiquarian
interests and a strong believer in the undoubted fact that to keep up
old customs is a valuable means
of inspiring the peeple with a respect
for the past, and a spirit of loyalty to the Crown. When I visited
the young animal on the occasion of the celebrations I noticed that,
although carefully prepared food was arranged on gold plates in the
vicinity, the White Elephant was, in fact, fed in quite an ordinary
manner, the precious vessels being kept well out of the way of the
playful youngster. I was, in common with other members of the public,
permitted to offer sugar-cane, which was considered an act of merit.
it
To see the White Elephant as it was in the

days of its glory one
must go back King Rama IV. It was this pious king
to the reign of
who, even in his welcome to Sir John Bowring, the
official letter of
British Ambassador, could not refrain from adding the following

postscript :
"
have just returned from old city Ayudia of Siam fifteen days ago
I
with the beautiful She Elephant which your Excellency will witness
here on your Excellency's arrival."
The following information is extracted from the writings of Mrs.

Leonowens 1 :
In those days, when the governor of a province was notified of the

appearance of a white elephant within his domain, he immediately
commanded prayers and offerings to be made in all the temples, while
he sent out a formidable expedition of hunters and slaves to take the
precious beast and bring it in in triumph. As soon as he was informed
of its capture, a special messenger was
despatched to inform the king
of its sex, probable age, size,
complexion, deportment, looks and
ways and in the presence of his Majesty this bearer of glorious tidings
;
underwent the painfully pleasant operation of having his mouth, ears,

and nostrils stuffed with gold. Especially was the lucky individual,
perhaps some half-wild woodsman, who was first to spy the illustrious
monster, munificently rewarded. A wide path was cut for the animal's
passage through to the jungle, and on arriving at the rivei-bank he was
installed in a floating palace of wood, surmounted
by a gorgeous roof, and
hung with crimson curtains. The roof was thatched with flowers, the
floor overlaid with gilt matting, while an
obsequious crowd bathed
him, perfumed him, fed him, sung and played to him. At a point some
seventy miles from the capital, he was met by the king and his court,
all the chief
personages of the kingdom, and a multitude of Buddhist
monks and Brahman priests, accompanied by troops of players and
musicians who conducted him with all honour to his
A great number of cords and ropes of all qualities and stable-palace.
lengths were
attached to the raft, those in the centre being of fine silk. These were
for the king and his noble retinue, who with their own hands made
them fast to their gilded barges, the rest
being secured to the great
fleet of
lesserjboats. Thus the White Elephant was escorted to the
1
The English Governess at the Siamese Court, pp. 141 sqq. Also P. i, 152 sqq.
capital in triumph, there to be anointed by the king and f6ted with

theatrical entertainments for nine days, while his tusks were ringed
with gold and he was robed in purple. Whenever he went out for his
bath his head was shielded by a royal umbrella, while pages waved
golden fans before him. He was fed with the finest of royal food from
plates of gold and silver, and, should he fall ill, he was attended by the
king's own physician, while priests daily repaired to his palace to pray
for his safe deliverance, and to sprinkle him with consecrated water.
To the above account I may add that it was formerly the custom
to provide young White Elephants with a large number of human
wet-nurses. I have in my possession a photograph, taken about a
dozen years ago, of a Siamese woman suckling a young elephant,
probably a white one.
It is perhaps not generally known that lullabies were composed to
induce the White Elephant to sleep, and that a eulogy was recited
immediately such an animal was captured in order to persuade him
to resign himself to his new mode of existence. The following is a
translation of the latter :
"
With holy reverence we now come to worship the angels who
preside over the destiny of all elephants. Most powerful angels, we
entreat you to assemble now in order that you may prevent all evil
to His Majesty the King of Siam, and also to this magnificent elephant
which has recently been brought. We
appeal to you all, whom we now
worship, and beg that you will use your power in restraining the heart
of this animal from all anger and unhappiness. We
also beg that you
will incline this elephant to listen to the words of instruction and
comfort that we now deliver. Most royal elephant ! We
beg that you
will not think too much of your father and mother, your relatives,
and friends. We
beg that you will not regret leaving your native
mountain and forests, because there are evil spirits there that are very
dangerous, and wild beasts are there that howl, making a fearful noise,
and there too that bird hassadin which hovers round and often picks
up elephants and eats them and there are also bands of cruel hunters
;
who kill elephants for their ivory. We

trust you will not return to the
forest, for you would be in constant danger. And that is not all, in the
forestyou have no servants, and it is very unpleasant to sleep with
dust and filth adhering to your body, and where flies and mosquitoes
are very troublesome. Brave and noble elephant Why should you
!
wish to wander free ? The forest is full of thorns, bushes and marshes.
Why should you wish to cross the valley and mountains ? There you
must drink muddy water, and there the stones will cut your feet.
Father Elephant We entreat you to banish every wish to stay in
!
the forest. Look

at this delightful place, this heavenly city It !
abounds in wealth and everything your eyes could wish to see or your
heart desire to possess. It is of your own merit that you have come to
behold this beautiful city, to enjoy its wealth, and to be the favourite
l
guest of His most exalted Majesty the King."
1
Siam, M. L. Court, New York, 1886, pp. 210 sq.
This curious practice has the sanction of

antiquity, as Mr. F. H.
Giles has pointed out, 1 for
Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador at the
court of the Hindu emperor about 300 whose
Chandragupta, B.C.,
capital was at Pataliputra (modern Patna), records that Indians
sang
songs to the accompaniment of music to soothe and coax wild elephants
recently captured.
The following extracts from the Annals of
Ayu&hya, relating to
events in the seventeenth will serve as a further illustration
century,
of the esteem In which the White
Elephant was held by the Siamese
of Old Siam :
"
In the Siamese Civil era 1020 [A.D. 1658] year of the Cock, H.M.
took a boat excursion to Nakon Sawan. While at this
place H,E. Phya
Chakri informed H.M. that Khun Srikhaun Charin of the
province
Sri-sawat had reported that while he was out
gathering information
in the forests of Hui sai, Nai Ahnsui had
captured a she white elephant,
over sixty inches high. Her ears, tail, and her
general appearance were
beautiful. The capture was made on
Tuesday, in the second lunation,
second of the waning. H.M. gave orders that H.B. the
governor of
Tanahwasee (Tenasserim), and all skilled in the
management of
elephants go and bring to him the white elephant, H.M. then returning
to Ayuthia, the The white elephant was brought to the
capital.
capital in the second lunation, fifth of the waxing, and a magnifi-
cent boat procession received her and
brought her to a stall near the
palace. H.M. conferred upon his great and distinguished acquisition the
following name : Phra-intra-aiyarah-warnawisutti-racha-kirini. The
astrologers and wise sages, and princes, ministers and nobles were
required to make demonstrations of gladness for three days. After
which beautiful ornaments and utensils were made for the decoration
and use of the white elephant, and Phra Sri-sittikarn was
appointed
to care for the animal. Nai Ahnsui, the son of Khun Sri-khaun Charin
who captured the elephant, received from H.M. the title Khun
kachen-taun-aiyarah-wisutt-rach-kirini, and presents of a silver box
with a golden rim, and 96 dollars, a cotton and silk waist cloth and a
silk coat, and to this man's wife H.M.
presented a silver bowl with
lotus petal rim, weighing dollars 24, and its
accompaniments and dollars
18, and a calico waist cloth. H.M. promoted Khun
Sri-khaun-chaiin,
the father of Nai Ahnsui with the title Sawats
Luang Kachentara,
and presented to him a silver box inlaid with the
figure of an elephant's
ear, and gold ornaments for his box and 96 dollars, a cotton and silk
waist cloth, and a silk jacket. As Nai Ahn Sui, when he
captured the
elephant, thought her eyes were defective, and was about to let the
precious prize go, H.M. gave only such presents. To the elephant
driver, and the elephant keeper, H.M. made the
presents usually
given when a white elephant has been obtained. To the bearer of the
letter of information
reporting the capture of the animal, and to the
man who delivered her each received from H.M. a present. The value
of the presents made on this occasion amounted to dollars 846.
The
political servants who are required to pay their annual quota of block
1
JSS. xxiii, pt. 2> 1929, p. 65.
tin, and who assisted in leading to the capture, and the Government
servants who have in charge the white elephant and who assisted in
the present instance each received some token of royal favour for their
*
service."
Again :
"
In the Siamese civil era 1022, year of the Rat, second of the
decade [i.e. A.D. 1660], the provincial officials of Nakon Sawan sent a
dispatch to the Samuha nahyok department, that one of the officers
of the elephant keepers, had
captured a white elephant about 80 inches
high. The animal was a very pretty one and it was captured in the
forests of the province, Nakon Sawan. H.E. Chao
Phya Kosa Chakri
(Minister of the North), presented this glorious intelligence to H.M. the
King of Siam. This was a source of immense gratification to the King
of Siam, who promptly gave orders to the ministers and their subaltern
officers, who have in charge the royal elephants, to go up and receive
this eminent beast, and
bring it to Ayuthia, and that all necessary
preparation^ be made for an ornamental and grand procession by land
and by water as was customary for such auspicious acquisitions. The
lordly animal was to be placed in a shed outside of the Royal palace,
and appointed a grand festival, at which Buddhist priests and Brahmins
were to officiate, to be enlivened with music, theatricals and other
amusements to interest the public for some days, after which the highly-
prized acquisition was to be conducted to its shed within the palace
walls. H.M. honoured it with the
dignified and imposing title, Chao
Phya Broma Chentara Chatratant and provided for the royal beast
gold decorations, ornamented with the nine distinguished gems, and
designated leading men of the elephant department, and masters
of tens to be in attendance
upon the lordly white elephant. The
fortunate man who captured the animal was elevated to the rank of
Khun Mun. According to ancient custom he had honours, clothing
and money showered upon him as usual. Those who were associated
with him and assisted in the capture were each rewarded, and received
certificates exempting them from
every description of taxes, and they
were dismissed to return to their homes, and
engage in their usual
vocations.
" The
Khun Mun who was appointed to superintend, have in charge
and care for this lordly elephant, diligently taught it till it understood
human language, and could do a number of deeds. All who were under
sentence of severe penalties for grave offences and were in
prison, and for
whom none could have interceded, prepared vows and promised votive
offerings to this white elephant, and then presented to the elephant
their written petition. The elephant took these petitions up in his
proboscis, raised it in adoration to the King, and presented them to
him, and thus entreated for the petitioners' pardon. Whenever H.M.
made his appearance at the lordly elephant's shed, on such occasions
H.M. reached forth his hand, received from the
elephant the petition,
read it, acquainted himself with the contents and out of
regard to
the lordly beast, granted to the beast the
request of the petitioner.
All thus pardoned,
upon their release brought to the royal beast, the
votive offerings they had bound themselves to After the
give.
acquisition of this animal, many criminals, sent petitions in this way
and through the beast obtained their pardon. H.M. the King became
very meritorious being the possessor of a male and female white
elephant, as special royal seats, and H.M.'s wonderful power was known
in all parts of the world, among the great and small nations and H.M.'s
enemies greatly respected and feared him." x
Not only in Siam, but also in the other countries of Indo -China, was
the White Elephant an object of desire. Especially was this the case
in Burma, as we know from the accounts of
Ralph Fitch, who travelled
throughoutBurma in 1582, and of Father Sangermano, who was in
Burma some two hundred years later. It is not surprising, therefore,
to find that the desire for the
possession of the sacred animal was on
more than one occasion the cause of war. Thus it was that in the
middle of the sixteenth century, King Cakravarti of Ayudhya, who
was the proud possessor of no less than seven white elephants, and
had been persuaded to take the title of Lord of the White Elephant ",
f '
aroused the jealousy of King Bayin-Naung of Burma, who sent to

demand two of the animals. His request was refused, whereupon
he immediately declared war on Siam, and was not satisfied until
four white elephants, instead of the two he had
originally demanded,
had been handed over. 2
We have seen with what esteem the White Elephant was regarded
during life, that it was received with all honours befitting a king, that
it was anointed and named after the manner of a
royal abhiseka, that
in health it was served in its own
palace by royal pages, and in sickness
it was attended
by the king's physician. It is not therefore surprising
to find that after death it was honoured by a royal cremation.
In recent times the occasion of the death of a White

Elephant
has, as one would expect, not occasioned very much notice or alarm :
"
On
the occasion of the last death a few Brahmins, the white
monkey,and some physicians, only, attended the death-bed.
After the elephant was dead, an excavation was made in the
ground
near its head, and incense burned. The carcase was then covered with
white cloth, dragged on board a barge, and taken outside the
city. It
was not cremated, but was left to decay, the bones and tusks
being
afterwards collected and preserved. For three
days Brahmins remained
praying in the stable."
Mrs. Leonowens, however, gives a
graphic picture of the consterna-
tion which the death of a
White Elephant caused in the reign of King
Kama IV. In 1862 a magnificent White Elephant had been captured
1
Reign of King Narayana, translated from the Annals of A yudhya, by
'
S. J. Smith,
Bangkok, 1880.
2
Wood, History of Siam, pp. 117 sq.
3 "
The Decadent White Elephant," in Imperial and Asiatic Review, vol. xi.
and a splendid pavilion had been erected in front of the Grand Palace
to receive it. The whole nation was filled with joy, until there came
the awful tidings that it had died.
"
No man dared tell the King. But the Kralahome that man of
prompt expedients and unfailing presence of mind commanded that
the preparations should cease instantly, and that the buildings should
vanish with the builders. In the evening his Majesty came forth, as
usual, to exult in the glorious work. What was his astonishment to
find no vestige of the splendid structure that had been so nearly
completed the night before. He turned, bewildered, to his courtiers,
to demand an explanation, when suddenly the terrible truth flashed
into his mind. With a cry of pain, he sank down upon a stone, and
gave vent to an hysterical passion of tears but was presently consoled
;
by one of his children,' who, carefully prompted in his part, knelt

before him and said Weep not,":
my father The stranger lord !
may have left us but for a time.'
Only the brains and the heart were cremated, the carcase, shrouded
in fine white linen, being floated on a barge down the river. Shortly
afterwards the king showed Mrs. Leonowens its tusks and a part of
its skin preserved, at the same time
reading the following curious
description of the deceased monster :
"
His eyes were light blue, surrounded by a salmon colour his ;
hair fine, soft, and white his complexion pinkish white ; his tusks
;
like long pearls his ears like silver shields

; his trunk like a comet's
;
tail ; his legs like the feet of the skies his tread like the sound of
;
thunder his looks full of meditation

; his expression full of tender-
;
ness his voice the voice of a mighty warrior

; and his bearing that ;
an 1
of illustrious monarch."
Van Vliet has left us a short account of the death and obsequies
of a White Elephant during the reign of King Prasada Don of Ayudhya.
He states that
"
In the commencement of the reign of the present king, a young
white elephant was caught which suddenly died in 1633. His Majesty
was so upset by this, that all the slaves, who had guarded and assisted
the animal were executed. Besides this, the king paid reverence to
the dead animal, ordered it to be buried near one of the famous
temples, and a small house of a pyramidal shape was built over the
grave. But after it had been buried a short time, it was dug up and
was burned with a splendour, even greater than that which has been
displayed for the most famous mandarins. All remains which had not
been consumed by the fire, were collected in a box, buried at the
temple, and a beautiful pyramid was erected over it."
2
Finally, it is interesting to note that the White Elephant is not

" '*
without the crowning dignity of a special pantheon corresponding
1
The English Governess at the Siamese Court, pp. 144 sq.
2
JSS., vol. vii, pt. i, 1910, p. 100.
to that of the kings. In the Chapel Royal of the Emerald Buddha are
to be seen twenty-one statuettes of elephants, each with its name
carved on the pedestal. These represent the White Elephants which
have added to the splendour, prestige, and prosperity of the Royal
House of Cakri of Siam.
In endeavouring to trace the history of the White Elephant Cult
in Indo-China we naturally look to India, at once the home of the
elephant and of the culture which has been adopted by most of the
peoples of Indo-China. If we had gone to Africa, also the home of the
elephant, we should also have found the White Elephant regarded
as a sacred animal in Abyssinia. But it is unnecessary to seek for
any connection between Indo-China and Abyssinia for, as Sir James
Frazer has shown in the various volumes of The Golden
Bough, albino
animals are held to be sacred in many parts of the world. This fact
probably supplies us with the origin of the White Elephant Cult in
pre-historic times. White animals were esteemed because they were
rare, and especially would this be so in the case of the White Elephant
which is not only extremely rare, but belongs to a species which, even
in its ordinary form, was always venerated on account of its
strength,
size, and value in war. In the earliest times the White came
Elephant
to be regarded as having a magical significance. In the Vessantara
Jdtaka the White Elephant was regarded as a rain maker, and we have
seen that this is one of the epithets used in connection with the Siamese
White Elephant. Van Vliet x has the story of a White
Elephant that
turned black, and afterwards red, much to the consternation of the
officials in charge while it is clear from several remarks in the Bahsd-
;
vahtdra of Hlvan Prasoeth, that the royal

elephants were closely
watched for omens. For instance,
" the
chief elephant Phraya Chaddanta uttered a noise like that
produced by the sounding of a conch-shell,"
following which an accident befell the king. On another occasion

"
the chief elephant Svasti Mongol and the chief
elephant Keo Chak-
raratna were fighting with each other, and the left tusk of the
elephant
Svasti Mongol got loose. On this the
soothsayers forbade the prepara-
tions for a war."
Again,
"
In Phitsnulok on Wednesday the 8th of the 10th moon
waxing
(A.D. 1547), marvellous events happened, inasmuch as the Menam
Sai in Phitenulok rose over the banks of the river for three soks.
Furthermore the apparition of a female form an resembling elephant
was seen ;
it had the appearance of a trunk of an elephant ;the
x
LOG, cit.
ears were large a.nd it was seen sitting at the temple Prasad in
i
Phitsnulok."
I have mentioned these examples, and many more could be collected,

because they seem to indicate that the early pre-religious significance
of the White Elephant has survived in Siam until comparatively
modern times, and we may indeed have here the relics of an early
indigenous White Elephant Cult followed by the peoples of Indo -China
long before the grafting on of imported Indian interpretations. In
support of this is the fact that the elephant hunters of the Goraja table-
land in Eastern Siam have retained until the present day an elaborate
system of spirit-worship, and early beliefs in connection with elephants,
with which Mr. F. H. Giles has dealt at length in The Journal of the
Siam Society. 2
The great religious systems of India each gave their special
interpretations to the already existing cult of elephants. In Hinduism
the first of all elephants is the magnificent Airavata, the derivation
"
of whose name is referred to the word Iravat, signifying produced
"
from the ocean in accordance with the mythical churning of the
ocean. 3 It is frequently referred to in Hindu mythology and in the
Edmdyana. It is the mount of Indra, and in India possesses one and

sometimes three heads, representing the three great gods, Brahma,
Visnu, and îva, but in Siam is more frequently represented as having
thirty-three heads in consonance with the heaven of the thirty-three
gods (tavatu'nsa).
In Buddhism the White Elephant was cast for the role filled by
the dove in Christianity :
"
Then the future Buddha, who had become a superb white elephant ,
and was wandering on the Golden Hill, not far from there, descended
thence, and ascending the Silver Hill, approached her from the North.
Holding in his silvery trunk a white lotus flower, and uttering a far-
reaching cry, he entered the golden mansion, and thrice doing obeisance
to his mother's couch, he gently struck her right side, and seemed to
enter her womb." 4
But it is mainly to the part taken by the White Elephant in several

of the Jdtakas that the animal owes its fame and sacredness in the
eyes of allpious Buddhists. Perhaps the best known of these ancient
stories is the Vessantara Jdtaka, in which Prince Vessantara gives away
the magical rain-producing elephant, the most valued possession of
1
JSS., vol. vi, 1908, "Events in Ayudhya from Chulasakaraj, 686-966."
2
Vol. xxiii, pt. 2, 1929.
Dowson's Hindu Classical Dictionary, p. 9.
*
Rhys Davids, Buddhist Birth Stories, p. 150.
his country. In several Jdtakas the Bodhisattva himself is born

as a White Elephant, most notably in the Ohaddantha Jataka where
he a noble six-tusked elephant. The Mati-posakff, Jdtaka is most
is
interesting to us because it shows how the bounty lavished on White

Elephants by pious Buddhist kings in Siam was founded on the
example set by ancient Indian kings :
"I, my lord, have seen a splendid elephant,

white all over, and
excellent, fitfor the king's riding ! And the
king caused the city
. . .
to be decorated. The trainer led the Bodhisattva into a stable all

adorned and decked with a screen of many colours, and sent word to
the king. And the king took all manner of fine food and caused it
to be given to the Bodhisattva." *
This passage might almost refer to the reception of a White

Elephant in the heyday of the cult in Siam. One more Jataka be may
mentioned the Dumedha which
a king who was jealous of
tells of
the beauty and honour of his White Elephant.
A Greek source affords us independent evidence of the esteem in
which White Elephants were held about 300 B.C., and here
again
the events described might almost have occurred in Siam in the
days
when Ayudhya was capital of the realm :
"
Megasthenes gives a story of a white elephant which was caught
and kept by its owner there arising between the two a great
;
friendship
and love. The king, hearing of this white elephant, commanded that
it be made over to him, but the owner refused and fled to the
jungle
with his animal. The king sent men in pursuit, and a
great fight, in
which the elephant fought on the side of his master, took
place. The
king's men were put to flight, and the elephant nursed his master, who
had been wounded, bringing him to convalescence. It is not recorded
that the king obtained possession of this animal, but the
story goes to
prove that over 2,000 years ago the white elephant was the object of
desire on the part of a monarch, and the same is
amply proved by the
Jdtaka stories in which the white elephant plays an 1
important part."
We thus see that three different points of view have become fused
together to produce the historical White Elephant Cult of Indo-China
in general, and Siam in particular. These are :
(1) The animistic or magical, still surviving in the taboos and

propitiatory rites of the Goraja elephant hunters and only awaiting
some such ill-omened event as the sudden death of the White young
Elephant of the present reign, to be revived amongst the super-
stitious lower classes of the
capital.
(2) The Hindu, represented by the many-headed elephant of
India,
to be seen in the masked performances of the Rdmdyana, sometimes
1 Jataka No. 455, edn. of Cowell. F. H, Giles, loc. cit.

also in the procession of the Swinging Festival, and on the one tical
silver pieces, but now perhaps altogether without religious or magical
significance.
(3) The Buddhist, according to which the animal is still half
seriously regarded by some as being animated by the soul, if not of a
Bodhisattva, at least of some being in an advanced stage of the journey
towards Nirvana, though there is not, nor has there ever been, any
idea of worship, in the proper sense of the word. Indeed, this Buddhist
idea has now almost degenerated into a supposition that the White
Elephant a sign of the King's merit.

is
To thesemay be added the severely practical official point of

view, in accordance with which it is realized that the White Elephant
has always been an important adjunct of Siamese royalty and may
yet for many years continue to help to inspire the common people
with a wholesome respect for the monarchy.
A few words remain to be said about the white monkey and the
white crow, which are the companions of the White Elephant in
captivity. Apart from the fact that these animals are prized on
account of their rarity, there is also a mythological interpretation.
The white monkey represents Hanuman, the monkey hero of the
Rdmayana, or, according to the Buddhist interpretation, the monkey
who offered honey to the Buddha ; while I suppose that the white
crow may represent the sacred bird Garuija.
CHAPTER XXIV
FEASTS OF LAMPS
1. The Hoisting of Lamps on Poles (Con Parian). 1
The term Cdn Parian means, literally, the hoisting of fat (parian =
fat). According to ancient usage, lanterns were raised on posts, as will
shortly be described, on the first day of the bright fortnight and lowered
on the second day of the dark fortnight of the additional month, if
the year had one if it had not, they were raised on the fourteenth
;
day of the bright fortnight of the twelfth month, and lowered on the
first day of the bright fortnight of the first month.
According to the
astrologers the lanterns were to be raised on the day on which the sun
entered Scorpio and the moon was in Taurus. An alternative method
was to raise the lanterns when the Pleiades were visible throughout
the night.
On the appointed day, in the morning, the King sprinkled the
" "
posts of the lamps of victory (sau gom jdya) with lustral water,
and anointed them with fragrant unguents. Then the posts were
raised. There were three of these wooden posts, and they had nine-
tiered umbrellas of white cloth erected over them. There were also
three lamp-posts called sau gom jdya grahdiap, and these had seven-
tiered umbrellas above them. They were all painted white, and hung
with The lanterns were bamboo frames covered with
little bells.
white cloth. Around them were one hundred " attendant " posts of
bamboo. These had three-tiered umbrellas and lanterns of bamboo
framework covered with paper. The ceremony took place within the
precincts of the royal palace, where the posts were erected, and where
the Brahmans in a special pavilion erected for the purpose prepared
the candles each morning. These were smeared with cow's fat in
accordance with a very ancient Brahmanical custom, and presented
to the King together with a conch full of lustral water for sprinkling
the posts. "
Twenty-four candles were burnt in the lanterns of
"
victory each night, each candle lasting about three hours. King
Rama IV used always to come out and light the candles in the lanterns
himself. King Rama V sometimes did so, and sometimes did not.
In the latter case the Brahmans sent the candles and sacred fire into
1
Sources : BRB., pp. 9 sqq. ; NN., pp. 63 sqq. ; just mentioned in KM .
;
also
mentioned by Gervaise (edn. of 1688, p. 159), and by L.L., p. 48.
FEASTS OF LAMPS 289
the palace where the ping lit them, and his sons brought them out and
set them up. If the King was away from the capital, the ceremony was
performed in the palace in which he was staying. It was also performed

in the palace of the Ugaraja, and, in the royal palace, outside the
quarters of the princes and princesses. The Cdh Parian fell into disuse
in the latter part of the reign of King Kama V, but since then it has
on one occasion been revived, in the last year of King Rama VPs
1
reign.
In Siamit was always realized that Con Parian had originally been
a Brahmanic ceremony, the worship of the three gods Siva, Visnu,

and Brahma, represented evidently by the three posts crowned with
nine-tiered umbrellas, while the three posts crowned with seven-tiered
" "
umbrellas possibly represented their &aktis, and the attendant posts
their heavenly courtiers. But later it came to be popularly regarded
as having a Buddhist significance the worship of the relics of the
:
"
Buddha, the Crest- Jewel" in the "Heaven of the Thirty-three
Gods ", and the footprints of the Buddha found on the ridge of sand
of the Narmada and worshipped by the Snake people (Nagas). King
Rama IV fostered this interpretation by introducing, in his customary
way, the Buddhist texts in the evening and the feeding of

recital of
monks morning before the lantern posts were set up. In this
in the
connection it is interesting to note that a corresponding royal ceremony
was celebrated by the Buddhist kings of Ceylon. 2
For the original of the Brahmanic festival we must, of course,
turn to India. It can, without a doubt, be identified with the Hindu
Diwali or Dipawali, which is still celebrated in India by all house-
holders at the same season as the Cdn Parian. Dubois 3 says :
"
At the end of November or the beginning of December the
Deepavali (feast of lamps) is celebrated. It occupies several days.
Every evening while it lasts the Hindus place lighted lamps at the doors
of their houses or hang paper lanterns on long poles in the street.
This feast appears to be specially dedicated to fire. But as it is held
at a time when most of the cereal crops are ready for harvesting, the
cultivators in many places are then in the habit of going together in
procession to their and there offering up to their crops prayers
fields,
and rams or
goats, in order, as it were, to give thanks to
sacrifices of
their crops for having ripened and become fit for the food of man."
Gerini 4 apparently considers that the ceremony in Siam was also

connected with agriculture, being performed in order
1 Aa recorded in the Bangkok Times for 2nd Nov., 1\)25.

a
Knox, pp. 160, 161.
D., p. 671.
* Ge. (2).
"
to retain the water from draining off the padi fields, for the ears
of rice would not attain maturity if the
yearly inundation were to
abate so early".
This is presumably a conjecture, since I find no evidence for it in

the Siamese literature on the subject. On the contrary, it seems
always to have been regarded in Siam as a form of worship of
the three gods (later given a Buddhist significance) just as in India,
A
as Gerini himself admits,
"
it is essentially a festival in
honour of Vishnu and his consort, for it
isknown that on the llthday of the new moon of Karttika the god
awakes from his four months' sleep, and that his victory over king Ball
(Vamana avatara) took place at this season."
must be admitted that Brahmanic worship was
Nevertheless, it
seldom, ever, performed without a definite object,

if and the connection
of Dipawali with agriculture in India is In Siam the pujd
significant.
was kept up long after its object was forgotten.
2. The Kahtikeyd Festival*

This Brahmanical ceremony was abolished in the
early years of
the present century. Formerly it was performed in the first Siamese
month, but King Rama IV ordered it to be performed in the twelfth.
In making this change to the twelfth month (Karttika), when the moon
is in conjunction with Pleiades, King Rama IV was
guided by the
name of the ceremony. No doubt it was
originally performed in the
twelfth month, but had been transferred to the first month at the time
when the Swinging Festival was transferred to the second month.
There seems to have been a connection between the
Kahtikeya
Festival and the Swinging Ceremony (when the latter was
performed
in the first month), and it was also connected with the Cdn
Parian,
being performed about the middle of the same month, sometimes
a little earlier and sometimes a little later. The nature of the relation-
ship between these ceremonies will be discussed later.
The features of this ceremony were as follows Three :
platforms,
each four cubits high, were erected in front of the
temples of Siva,
Ganesa, and Visnu. By the four sides of each platform, facing the
four cardinal points, were raised four mounds of sand and
" cowdung
called mountains ", each a cubit high, and shaped according to one
of the yantra diagrams in the Brahmanical books. 3 The Brahmans also
brought three new pots which were covered with plaited ropes, and
were called '*" jewel-vessels " (patra Ic&v). A zinc tube nine
containing
cotton wicks, and bags of padi, pulses, and sesamum, were
placed in
1 Loc. * 3
cit. BRBtt pp. 17 sqqt See Plate III.
FEASTS OF LAMPS 291
the pots. Then they brought twelve sticks, each four cubits long,
" "
called divine clubs (mai debddnda). The ends of these sticks were
wound with strips of cloth, so that they could be soaked with oil
and lighted. At nightfall the Brah Mahd Raja Gru consecrated the
sticks and pots and lit the wicks in the latter. He also sprinkled
the sticks with lustral water and anointed them. Having placed the
pots on posts near the platforms, he lit the ends of the sticks and threw
them at the " mountains " one after another, until he had thrown
all the twelve. Omens were drawn from the way in which the sticks
fell, east representing the King, south the priesthood, west the ministers
and officials, and north the people.
The Brah Mahd Raja Gru then made oblations of parched rice to
" "
the jewel- vessels in which fire was kept burning in front of the
temples for three nights. On the third day the vessels were taken
inside the temples, and the fire put out with lustral water, which
concluded the ceremony.
It is quite clear that the making of predictions by the casting of
sticks at the hillocks no part of the original rite, but is one of the
is
late soothsaying modifications which the Brahmans added on to most

State Ceremonies with the object of showing their own importance
and flattering the King. But it was this soothsaying which was
nearly always discontinued, as a result of the growth of education,
long before the main part of the ceremony ceased to be performed.
The Kahtikeya Festival is no exception and the soothsaying connected
with this ceremony was abolished many years ago, and what was the
nature of the predictions is now forgotten. But, as King Rama V
naively remarks,
"
perhaps the predictions were uniformly good every year till at
King could remember them and ordered them to be cut out."
last the
As main ceremony, it seems that the

to the significance of the
Siamese have no clear ideas. King Rama IV, who waa uncertain
as to the purpose of the Brahmanical rites, was at a loss to know
where Buddhist modifications might be added on so he did nothing;
beyond restoring the observance to its original month. King Rama V

suggested, in view of its coming shortly before the Swinging Festival,
that the lamps were lit outside the temples to welcome the gods who
were about to come down to earth but this quite obviously has the
;
appearance of a very late attempt to explain the forgotten original

meaning. The resemblance between this ceremony and the Cdn
Parian is striking, and they both occur about the same time. Gerini l
1
Ge. (2).
has noticed this resemblance, and identifies ths Ka^tikeya ceremony

as the Saivite counterpart of the Vaisâvite ceremony of Con Parian.
It was, he considers, a fire festival in agreement, with Kahtikeya's
legendary birth from fire, corresponding to the celebrations held in

Southern India on full-moon day of this month, when rice-meal
buns are made, with a cavity in the centre filled in with ghi and
provided with a wick which is lit at the same time bonfires are kindled
;
on the mountain tops in honour of Kahtikeya. Both these ceremonies

of lamps are, of course, in their present form, of comparatively late
origin, having presumably been derived from some early Vedic worship
of Agni, which was in course of time forgotten, but came to be
interpreted in accordance with the mythology of the later Brahmanic
gods. This was in turn forgotten in Siam, and in both the Cdn Parian
and the Kahtikeya Ceremony the respective Vaisnavite and Saivite
dedications of the two ceremonies were lost,, and the gods were
worshipped indiscriminately.
3. Loy Brah Prahdi^ or Ldy Krahddh,, i.e. the floating of lamps at night. 1
Tnis ceremony is performed twice a year, for the three nights of

the fourteenth and fifteenth waxing and first waning of the eleventh
month (AsVina), and again one month later in the twelfth month
(Karttika). On both these occasions little rafts, made of plantain
stems and decorated with flags, paper umbrellas, incense sticks, and
lighted candles, with offerings of food and flowers, are set adrift on
the river by people living near its banks. Formerly, at least, the
King himself went down to the royal landing and set a raft adrift
while the palace ladies did likewise. These rafts of the royalty and
all
nobility were on a more elaborate scale than those of the common

people, and all exercised their greatest ingenuity in producing the
most beautiful and original forms, model barges, floating houses, etc.
When I lived close to the river bank I often watched the making and
launching of these rafts by the people who dwelt near by, and it
was always a very pretty sight to see the river at night covered with
thousands of bobbing lights, on their way out to be swallowed up by
the sea.
Neither the Buddhist monks nor Brahman priests play any official
part in this ceremony so it is not easy to trace its origin. For the
;
observance of the eleventh month, the people have invented a Buddhist

significance, the launching of the illuminated rafts being regarded
1 Sources : BEB., pp. 25 sqq. ; NN., pp. 63 sqq. part of NN.'s account was
;
translated and published by King Rama IV in the Siam Repository, April, 1869.
FEASTS OF LAMPS 293
as an act of worship, of the footprint of the Buddha on the

sandy
bank of the Narmada. Bound fish-pies, some of large size, are made
and partaken of, and the ceremony is celebrated contemporaneously
with the festival of the ending of the Buddhist retreat. It may thus
be looked upon sociologically as a means of popular merit-making and
amusement at this happy season of the year. But there also lingers
the animistic belief in the propitiation of the spirit or spirits of the
river.
There is evidence for supposing that the earlier significance of
both these occasions of lamp-floating was Brahmanic. Gerini 1 has
suggested that the observance in the eleventh month is the traditional
continuation of the Hindu Dyuta or Kojagara festival, held at full
moon in honour of Indra and Lakshmi, when lamps were also lighted ;
while the observance in the twelfth month is undoubtedly connected

with the Ka^tikeya- Festival. In support of these probabilities we
have the evidence of Nan Nabamas*a. She states that there was in her
time no ceremony of Ldy Krahddn, but she, being the daughter of a
Brahman, wished to honour the genii of the river in Brahmanical
fashion. She accordingly made a KraMdn of great beauty and
elaboration, such as she alone had the skill to make. The King,
happening to see it, was much struck by its beauty, and was filled
with the desire to light and launch it. But, as he was an ardent
supporter of Buddhism, and knowing that it was made by Lady
Nabamaâ with the intention of honouring the Brahmanical deities,
he had scruples about doing so. However, he overcame his scruples
by declaring :
" The
property such as pyramids and spires dedicated to Buddha
on the banks of this river, or his sacred relics, bones, hair, etc., wherever
they may be in the subterranean regions concealed from the eye,
under the river, or in places which Buddha has pressed with his feet,
when moving in his might, or in his natural state, if these prints are
in this river, or in the ocean which receives the stream of this river,
all these articles that are suitable
offerings to Buddha I reverently
dedicate to him with this elegantly decorated Krafyddn offering. What-
ever merit becomes complete by these offerings to Buddha, that merit
I cheerfully make over to the genii of the river who are venerated
by
Cau Cbm Nabamasa as the owner of the Kratyldn"
The Bang
set adrift the Krakddh, and his
example was followed by
allthe courtiers and nobles, and the King ordered that the custom
should become an annual observance. It was observed
regularly during *
the Ayudhya period, and is mentioned by La Loub&re. 2 In the early
1
Ge. (2). L. L., p. 48.
Bangkok dynasty it was observed- with great splendour,

reigns of the
but King Kama IV reduced the expenditure on it.
We cannot lay much stress on the fidelity of the details in Lady
Nabamaâ's story; but we can take it as evidence of a definite
tradition that theLdy Krahddn was first introduced into Siam
as a Brahinanical ceremony later to be modified in accordance
with the growth of Buddhism. But, though the Ldy Krahddh
seems to have been connected with festivals dedicated to the
later Brahmanic gods in India, it probably grew out of older
oblations made to the sacred rivers, especially the Ganges,
and continued down to the present day. And very probably
the Brahmanic form of the observance was merely grafted on to an
indigenous Thai animistic worship of the spirit of the river, with which
their lives were so intimately bound up. And even now,
despite the
teachings of Buddhism, the Spirit of the M&narh or "Mother of
"
Waters is by no means
forgotten.
CHAPTER XXV
MINOR BRAHMANICAL CEREMONIES
'
1. The Worship of the Sacred Bull (Ckavian Brah Go Kin). 1

This ancient ceremony was once performed in the second month
(Pausa), but it was discontinued several centuries ago. From the
account of the ceremony in the KM. we learn that the Sacred White
Bull (representing Nandi, the mount of Siva), was led out from the
royal stables, its horns and hoofs adorned with gold ornaments
decorated with the nine gems, and with golden medallions and tassels
hanging from its ears. A silk cord was passed through its nostrils,
and it was tied to a richly ornamented post on a dais two cubits high.
Gold and silver and silken cloths were heaped under the belly of the
sacred animal, and it was made to stand facing the north. A sacred
fire was lit in front of it, and
p<n-&rl trays of food were also placed
before it. It was fed and watered by the King's children from vessels
of gold. The four chief Brahmans stood at the four corners of the
dais sacrificing to the sacred fire all through the night.
Early in the
morning the King arrived in procession with ministers bearing the
various insignia of State, and the Baladeba carrying a tray of parched
rice. The King carried a golden lotus, and the Queen a silver one.
The procession circumambulated the Sacred Bull nine times auspicious-
wise, and after that there was a banquet. The ceremony took place
within the royal palace enclosure Gerini 2 considers that this festival
may have originated from the Hindu one of letting loose the sacred
bull (Vrsotsarga), which was, however, performed on full moon
day
of Karttika, or even in AsVina. 3 The ceremony was
probably connected
with agriculture or the multiplication of cattle, but, at this distance
of time, and without further evidence, it is impossible to
judge its
sociological value.
2. Visnu's Sleep.
The Siamese accounts of ceremonies for the eighth month (Asacjha)

are almost entirely devoted to the great Buddhist festival of Khau
Barsd. There are, however, indications that at an early period in
1 Known
only from a description in KM., quoted in BRB. pp. 68*9 not mentioned
t ;
in HV. the ceremony evidently having been abolished before that was written.
t
a
Ge. (2).
3
Paraskara Orhyasutra t lii, 9, in SEE. xxix, p. 353.
295
296 SIAMESE STATE CEEEMONIES
Siamese history there were Brahmanical celebrations in this month

which have now been almost completely forgotten. It appears that
the Asa<Jha, or Midsummer, Festival (seventh to fourteenth of the
waxing) was once known in Siam, and that after this the Brahmans
began their retreat and fasts. A couple of sentences in NN. 1 indicate
that there was also a royal Brahmanical ceremony in this month.
It is stated that in the centre of a pond in the royal temple grounds
a dais was erected on which the King lay down, and was sprinkled by
the Brahmans. Gerini 2 identifies this with the day on which Visiiu
issupposed to commence his four months' sleep on the Milk Sea, and
which is still celebrated in India by a festival on the eleventh waxing.
According to this the pond represents the sea, and the dais the serpent
!esa, Visnu's mythical couch. It is an interesting example of the
Siamese king's identification with Visiiu, and of his imitating the god's
actions, for the good of the realm.
3. jSiva's Night (Sivdratri)?

This festival was celebrated from very early times in Siam, but
was discontinued after the fall of Ayudhya. It was, however, revived
by King Rama IV, but has again fallen into disuse. It occurred on the
full-moon day of the third month (Magha), and was of course a strictly
Saivite festival.
In the evening the High Priest of iva (Brah Mdhd Raja Gru)
carried out the usual preliminary rites common to all Brahmanic
ceremonies. He then set up four poles from which was suspended,
by means an earthen pot full of water, but with a hole in
of strings,
the bottom. Under the pot was placed a stone linga, symbolic of
Siva, which stood on a base having the form of a yoni, symbolic of
Uma 4
The yoni was provided with
(Siva's tdkti or cosmic energy).
a spout from which the water which dripped from the pot over the
linga and ran down into the yoni, was collected in vessels. This went
on all through the night, and just before dawn the Brahmans cooked
some mixed with honey, sugar, milk, and butter, which was
rice
distributed and partaken of by all those present. At daybreak they
all went down to the canals and bathed, and then
they returned and
anpinted their heads with some of the water which had been collected
from the linga. It was a rite of purification, and the Brahmans
1
NN.
p. 83.
*
Ge. (2). *
BEB., pp. 123 sqq.
4
This apparatus is still to be seen by the curious amongst the dust-covered lumber
behind the altar in the Siva temple. The present Head Brahman
recently informed
me that his father had performed the ceremony in days gone by.
MINOR BRAHMANICAL CEREMONIES 297
believed that the consecrated water washed away all impurities

and sins.
The ceremony was in early times derived from India, where it is
still practised, but on the fourteenth waning of the same month :
"
At the time of the new-moon in the month of February the
Lingayats, or followers of Siva, celebrate with great pomp their feast
Siva-ratri (Night of Siva). This lasts three days, and during the course
of it the Litigayats wash and purify their Ungam, cover it with a new
cloth, and offer it sacrifices of a special character. They also visit their
x
jangamas or gurus, and present them with gifts."
In Siam the festival can hardly be regarded as a royal ceremony ;
it was rather a ceremony performed by the Brahmans for their own

benefit. But it was probably fostered by the Siamese kings as the
means by which the Brahmans purified themselves before performing
more important ceremonies connected with the welfare of the King
and the State.
2
4. Snana, or Gajendrdsva-sndnam.
This ceremony, which signifies "the sprinkling of the lordly
elephants and horses ", was carried out twice yearly, in the fifth
month (Chaitra), and again in the eleventh month (AsVina). It was
not abolished until the reign of Bang Bama V, but had for some time
only been performed on a reduced scale, the elephants and horses
filing in procession past stands from which they were sprinkled with
lustral water. The ceremony was originally a lustration of arms,
a general purification of the army, like the Hindu Nwdjand. While
the sprinkling of the elephants was in progress, the Vrddhi-pasa
Brahmans (i.e. those in charge of auspicious rites in connection with
elephants) uncoiled, in the royal elephant warehouses, the ropes and
nooses stored therein for elephant catching, and performed a hook and
noose dance in honour of Visnu, simulating the capture of elephants.
This took place on the third day of the waning. Next morning the
ropes and nooses were coiled up again and stored away.
In ancient times Snana was a general review of the army, with
the object of seeing that all its equipment was kept in proper order
and efficiency. Ceremonies of this sort are mentioned in the Annals

of Ayudhyd as being performed prior to the launching of campaigns,
and must have been of considerable sociological value in keeping up
the spirits of the soldiers, and inspiring them with confidence in their
none too trustworthy weapons.
1
D., p. 568.
*
BRB. t pp. 271 sqq.
7
.ATA ., pp. 73 sqq. ; KM . ; Ge. (2).
Is I
1
5. Top-spinning (Bidhl Gendah or Din Khan).
This Brahmanical ceremony was discontinued several centuries
ago ;
in fact it may have ceased to be performed even before Ayudhya
was founded, since there is no mention of it in the KM., and it is
known only from fragmentary descriptions of it in the old Brahmanical
treatises and in NN.
Top-spinning was performed in the seventh lunar month (Jyaistha),
and attracted large crowds of people who were eager to learn the
fortunes of the realm as foretold by the Brahmans on this occasion.
" "
Three tops as large as pumpkins and made of the nine metals which
correspond to the nine planets, symbolized the three gods of the Hindu
triad, and were carried out in procession from the temple of Siva.
They were spun on a board by means of a silken string of five colours,

ten cubits long. Omens were drawn from the length of the spin and
the kind of noise emitted from the tops. If they spun long and
loudly the Brahmans announced that the glory of the King would
shine forth over foreign lands, the prosperity and riches of the people
would increase, and the boundaries of the kingdom would be extended.
If the contrary occurred, the Brahmans interpreted the omen as
indicating danger to the realm during the coming year.

A
ceremony, characterized by such extravagant prognostications
as the above, could only flourish among a conquering and
unsophisticated people, and was thus well suited to the early Thai.
But with the stern experiences of military reverses, and the spread
Buddha, such soothsaying ceremonies
of the elevating teachings of the
and are now only found in connection
were the first to fall into disuse,
with the Ploughing Festival, where, however, the Brahmans confine
themselves within the more modest limitations of predicting the
extent of the rice crop.
6. New Year*
There are really three Siamese New Year Festivals, which used
to take up most of the fifth month (Chaitra) but which have now been
officially combined to be celebrated on the first of April. This date
is really the civil (modern solar) New Year's Day, introduced in 1889,
to .fall invariably on 1st April ;
but the lunar and astrological (old
solar) new years, essentially religious, and connected with the old
calendar adopted from India on the basis of the Saka era reckoning,
are still used by the Brahmans in the arrangement of their ceremonial
1
BRB pp. 452 sqq. ; NN., p. 82.
2
BRB., pp. 133 sqq., 'and Qe. (2).
MINOR BRAHMANICAL CEREMONIES 299
calendar, and also celebrated by the masses to whom the new civil
New Year means nothing.
Trus, or lunar New Year, is celebrated during three days : the
fifteenth waning of Phalguna (fourth month) the first waxing of
;
Chaitra (fifth month) or New Year's Day, and the day following.
The ceremonies carried out at this period are (1) a general expulsion
of evil l (2) the King pays homage to his ancestors and the people
;
hold a popular festival of ancestor worship 2 (3) the drinking of the

;
water of allegiance takes place on this occasion as at half-year 3 ;
the ceremony of Sndna used to take 4

place, as it also did at half-year ;
the Brahmans performed a homam sacrifice as in connection with the

Coronation. 5
It will thus be seen that New Yeara time when a number of
is
mportant ceremonies take which have been or will be

place, all of
dealt with elsewhere in this book. But there remains one Brahmanical
rite, the actual rite of changing from the Old to the New Year, which
may most appropriately be dealt with in this chapter. This rite,

which is known as Sambacchara-chinda, is performed by the Jiord at
the same time that the Brahmans are offering their homam sacrifice.
The rite consists in changing the name of the animal denoting the
place of the year (Sambdcchara) in the duodenary cycle, after which
the year is designated, but not the " "
or serial number of the
figure
year in the era, the altering of which is to be effected later on Mesa-
sankrdnti, i.e. at the completion of the
astrological (solar) year.
The Sankrdnti, or astrological (solar) New Year falls on either
the 12th or the 13th April, the date of the assumed entrance of the
sun into Aries, according to the traditional local
(Hindu-imported)
reckoning. The day is termed Mahd-sankrdnti day (substantially
the same as Mesa-sankrdnti), and with it commences a three
days'
festival, the year's serial number in the era being changed on the
third day, which is actually regarded as New Year's
Day (solar).
This is one of the seventeen occasions in the on
year which, according
to the KM., the King must take a ceremonial bath of 6
purification,
and he afterwards sprinkles the sacred Tor the this
images. people
season is one of much rejoicing and
merit-making by washing the
images in the temples, building hillocks of sand for covering the
monastery courtyards, sprinkling the monks as an act of respect,
and making offerings of candles and incense before the images.
1
See Chap. XXVII. *
Chap. XIII. '
Chap. XV. *
|>. 297. p. 72.
Siamese texts refer to these ceremonial baths as
" murdhabhiseka, literally
anointment of the head ", but it has been shown in
Chapter VI that the Siamese
confuse the negative rite of lustration with the one of unction.
positive
CHAPTER XXVI
THE PEOPITIATION OF SPIRITS

The lower one goes in the social scale in Siam, as perhaps in every
country, the more one finds that superstitions and the belief in the
existence of spirits who require propitiation come to the fore at the
expense of the established religion. So it is that in Siam, despite
the teachings of Buddhism, which especially denounce such beliefs,
the spirits of the dead and other innumerable varieties of phi, all more
or less objectionable, make considerable demands on the time of the
Siamese, at least of the uneducated classes, in order to keep them at
bay. The Government, as a body, if not individually, is supposed to
be above such things, especially since it is the official upholder of the
Buddhist religion, and hence we find that the State affords this vast
host of phi little recognition, other than ruthlessly to drive them out
of the city every New Year. There are, however, or were until well
on in the Bangkok period, certain powerful phi whom even the
King and the Government could not afford to ignore. It seems
probable that these genii, together with all the common varieties of
phi, have survived from a period long anterior to the introduction
of Buddhism and Hinduism into the and have been
" "
country, may
part of the original stock of the early Thai and other races of
Indo-China. But since these beliefs are so widely spread amongst
primitive peoples, it is very difficult to say definitely in any particular
case whether it is indeed indigenous, or has been introduced,
say, from
India, in a more or less Hinduized form the fact that a primitive
;
beliefhas been dressed in Hindu garb is, however, no proof that it

has been imported from India, for we know that wherever Hinduism
went the Brahmans did their best to canonize whatever of the native
beliefsthey were not powerful enough to suppress. Thus, though it
is probable that the Brahmans
formerly took part in the ceremonies
connected with spirit-worship, such rites are not to be confounded
with such purely Brahmanical rites as the sacrificing to the
gods and
demi-gods of the Hindu pantheon, which is a preliminary to most
Hindu State Ceremonies.
The details which I have been able to collect with regard to State
Spirit Worship are unfortunately rather scant, for two reasons:
(1) because such ceremonies liave almost completely died out, and no
300
THE PROPITIATION OF SPIRITS 301
living person has any memory of them, and (2) because owing to the
very nature of such primitive rites, there were probably never any
written records of them and early Bangkok kings were not sufficiently
;
what was remembered of them by survivors

interested in them to record
from the destruction of Ayudhya. The following comprises such
information as I have been able to collect on the subject :
1. Animism.
I define animism as that primitive belief of the savage, according
to which every tree, river, and mountain, in short every natural
feature, especially such as have some special peculiarity such as a very
large tree or tall mountain, has its guardian spirit, dryad, or goblin.
This still forms one of the largest classes of phi, which demands the
respect and propitiation of the Siamese peasants, more particularly
in the northern part of the country. Probably it is several centuries
since these ceased to receive the serious attention of Siamese royalty,
and the only definite record that I can find of it is in no less distinguished
a document than the famous inscription of King Kama Gamhen,
as follows :
"
In yonder mountain is a demon-spirit, Brana Khabun, that is
greater than every other spirit in this realm. If any prince ruling this
realm of Sukhodaya reverence him well with proper offerings, this
realm stands firm, this realm prospers. If the spirit be not reverenced
well, if the offerings be not right, the spirit in the mountain does not
x
protect, does not regard; this realm perishes."
From this we see that the animism of the early Thai still enjoyed
the royal protection, despite the fact that the Kings of Sukhodaya
had adopted much of Khmer Brahmanism and were fervent Buddhists
as well. But it appears that there was only one spirit who was thought
worthy of the royal patronage, and it was a mountain spirit. Probably
ohis class of spirit always enjoyed a pre-eminent position, and may
have been the earliest type of guardian spirit of a city. It is probable
that Vat Phukhao Don (Temple of the Golden Mount) at Ayudhya
was originally a shrine dedicated to the spirit of a mountain, who was
also the guardian of the city. It was the deva of the Missaka-mountain
that appeared to King Devanampiyatissa of Ceylon in the form of an
elk-stag, and led him to Mahinda, the apostle of Buddhism.
2
Another example of animism in connection with Siamese Kings

isthe belief in the existence of a guardian genie resident in the royal
nine-tiered umbrella. This idea, as has already been mentioned in an
1
JSS., vol. vi, pt. ii, p. 29 ; and Coed&s, Inscriptions de Sukhodaya, p. 46.
*
M. xiv, 3.
earlier chapter, was also present in Burma : in one of the Jdtaka

reliefs in the Ananda temple at Pagan, the Bodhisattva
Temiya is
depicted on his couch, over which is a single-tiere4 white umbrella,

from which the goddess is seen issuing in order to give Temiya advice
not to become king. 1 Similarly in Ceylon, as
"
King Dutt>hagamani
thus reflected the Devatd of the parasol observed his 2
thought ".
Evidently, therefore, the idea of the Spirit of the Umbrella in Siam
has been derived from India. But if the Umbrella were
originally
derived from the tree, I suggest that the genie was
originally a tree-
spirit.
2. Guardian Spirits of Cities.

On the verandah of every Siamese house, or in a shady corner of
the garden, is set up a small wooden "doll's house" on a
pole, called
"
Sal Brah Bhumi, or Shrine of the Sacred Grove ",
corresponding to
the Burmese Nat Sin. This is the shrine of the Can Dl
(Spirit of the
Place) and before it the people of the house offer incense sticks, flowers,
and rice, especially when any domestic crisis, such as the birth of a
child, is pending. Brah Bhumi are to be seen in every
Similar Sal
street, every field, even in the sacred precincts of the monasteries.
They are the most tangible evidence of the survival of pure animism
in Siam to-day and the guardian
; spirits of the city, which still receive
officialsanction, are but a development of the same primitive point
of view.
Every city in Siam that ever attained any degree of independence

boasted its guardian genie, and, for example, when I visited
Sukhodaya,
the ruins of its shrine were pointed out to me. A similar shrine exists
in Bangkok at the present day, called Sal Cau Hldk Mo* ah, and until
the year A.D. 1919 there used to be another called Sal Cau Hd Kldn.
I have personally visited the former, but details
concerning the latter *
I take from Bastian 3 and Graham. 4 The Sal Cau Hldk
Mo'an, or
"
Shrine of the Pillar of the Lord of the
Country ", is a small brick
building crowned by a Cambodian prang. In the small and dark
interior there stands a carved and gilded pillar of wood, draped in red
cloth. This pillar is the home of the Guardian
Spirit of the City, and
around it are grouped phallic emblems, images of lesser and phi, paper
votive offerings in piles. A recent visit to the Sal Cau Hldk Mo'an
(18th December, 1930), supplied the following additional information :
The person who was sacrificed to make the Cau Hldk Mo' an is buried
underneath the* post. On one side, leaning against the wall, I noticed
1
Epigraphia Birmanica, vol. ii, pt. 2, No. 6. 2
M. xxviii, 6.
8 Reiwn, in Siam, p. 96 aq.
( Siam, ii, pp. 284, 286.
THE PBOPITIATION OF SPIRITS 303
another post, also draped in red cloth. I was told that it is the post
of the Cau Hldk Mcfan of Dhanapuri which was removed to this site
from the short-lived capital on the other side of the river. People
who are not in good health still come to pay homage before the Cdu
Hldk Mo' an, and I was told that it is still much respected. Printed
slips were in readiness to be sold to those who come to ask their
fortunes. It is also still the custom for a person desirous of obtaining
a boon such as a rise in salary to make a mental promise beforehand
to the effect that, should he obtain that which he desires, he will make
an offering to the Cau Hldk Mo'an. This offering varies from some
flowers or food placed in the shrine to a theatrical entertainment, and
the promise is always kept.
Sal Cau Hd Kldn used to stand near Vat Brah Jetavana, and was
so called on account ofproximity to the foundations of the former
its
"
Hd Kldn or Hall of Drums ", which in the early reigns of the present
dynasty was a tower on the top of which drums were beaten to warn
the populace in the case of fire or other danger, but which has long since
disappeared. This shrine was especially dedicated to a guardian
spirit called Cau Get in the person of a small image dressed in the
traditional costume of a devatd. Brahmanic influence in this shrine
was evident in the presence of Brah Kala, the god of death, mounted
on an owl, and also probably by two images of godlets known as
Brah Dran Mo'an and Brah So'a Mo'an. But Cau Get was a true
phi, since he was manufactured by the sacrifice of a suitable individual,
as also, presumably, was the spirit of the Cau Hldk Mo'an.
When the Sal Cau Ho Kloh was pulled down in 1919, owing
to its delapidated condition, Cau Get and his attendant spirits
were removed to the &al Cau Hldk Mo'an, where both they
and the Guardian Spirit proper continue to receive offerings.
But, in the present work, it is the extent of the official recog-
nition which the Cau Hldk Mo'an receives that is of special
interest. This manifests itself, or did until recently, in two ways :
(1) Itused to be the custom, at least until A.D 1910, to issue periodical
invitation cards by royal command, requesting the honour of the
presence of Cau Get at forthcoming religious ceremonies. Such cards

were until that year stuck on the door of the shrine. (2) In the oath
of allegiance taken twice yearly by all officials, the Cau Hldk Mo'an
is still invoked, and his vengeance called down on
any traitor.
Thus it seems that the Guardian Spirit of the City is by no means
forgotten, that he still retains a sociological value, and in case of
national danger no doubt he would come in for a considerably greater
share of attention, as he did in times past.
3. Guardian Spirits in Great Guns.

It appears that one of the guardian spirits of
Ayudhya had taken
up itsabode in a big gun, and the following account is interesting as
showing what great faith was put in the guardian spirit by the king
and people in time of national danger, this referring to the period
immediately before the fall of Ayudhya in A.D. 1767. But since it
comes from a Burmese source, must be received with caution.

it
"
Finding that every attempt against the enemy had always resulted
in failure, theKing of Siam ordered that the great gun called Dwara-
wadi, which had been regarded from ancient times as the guardian
of the city, should, after the customary
propitiatory offerings had
been made to the presiding spirit, be brought out from the building
where it had been carefully kept, mounted on the northern wall of
the city, and fired against the enemy. He also ordered that all the
inhabitants of the city, both men and women, young and old, should,
with suitable offerings, propitiate the guardian spirits of the
city,
the country and the weapons. In compliance witK this royal command,
the great gun was brought out with due ceremony and, with the
help
of mechanical appliances, raised and mounted on the northern wall
of the city and directed against Nemyo
Thihapate's camp. It was then
loaded with an ample charge of powder and all kinds of shot, such as
bar-shot, chain-shot, shrapnel, elongated bullets, etc., and fired with
a fuse. The fuse burned alright, and so did the priming
powder, but
the charge in the gun failed to ignite. Although
repeatedly tried, the
gun failed to discharge its load of shot. So the charge was taken out
to discover the cause, and to the amazement of the officers and men,
itwas found that the powder had dissolved and the water trickled down
the mouth of the gun. The Siamese officers were alleged
[by the
Burmese] to have exclaimed that when even the great guardian gun
of the city, a thing inanimate, had gone over to the side of the
King
of Ava, they who were animate beings, could not but submit." x
This is probably not an isolated incident of a city's guardian spirit

residing in a big gun ; indeed, the association of ideas seems obvious.
It reminds me of the well-known cannon that lies close to the road"
near Batavia, Java, half -buried in the ground. There is a tradition that
it will one
day be joined by its mate which lies in another part of the
island, and on that day the rule of Europeans in Java will cease. When
I saw it a few years ago was surrounded with heaps of flowers and
it
paper offerings, and, like the Can Hldk Mo'ah at Bangkok, was said
to be particularly revered by barren women.
4. Foundation Sacrifices.
Closely allied to the Spirits of the Sal Cau Hldk Mo'ah are the phi,
whose duty it is to guard the gates of the city, although now
they are
1
JS8., vol. xi, pt. iii, p. 47. Intercourse between Burma and Siam, as recorded
in Hmannan Yazawindawgyi.
THE PROPITIATION OP SPIRITS 305
forgotten and receive no attention, for the gates have disappeared,

and every Siamese knows that the walls, or what remains of them,
are no protection to the city. But they are of special interest because
we have fairly detailed accounts of their installation, whereas there
seem to be no accounts of the manufacture of Cau Get and the Cau
HUTc Mo'an.
Bruguiere gives the following account of the ceremony as 'performed
in the early days of Bangkok :
"
Whenever a new gate is to be
built in the city wall, or an old one
repaired, three innocent human
victims have to be immolated. The
King secretly sends an officer to the gate about to be repaired this ;
man has the appearance of wishing to call somebody, and from time
to time repeats the name to be given to the gate which excites the;
attention of passers-by, and they turn their head to see what it is.
The first three who do so are seized by men stationed for the purpose,
and their death is irrevocably fixed ; no service, no promise, no
sacrificecan deliver them. Within the gate is a ditch, and at a certain
height above it is a great beam ; this beam is hung by two ropes,
and suspended horizontally almost in the same way as in a wine-press.
On the appointed day for the sacrifice, a splendid banquet is prepared
for the three victims, after which they are led in ceremony to the ditch,
and the king and court come to salute them. The king charges them
in particular to guard well the gate confided to them, and to give
notice of the approach of enemies, or rebels to take the city. Instantly
the ropes are cut, and these victims of superstition are crushed by the
load that falls on their heads the people think that they are trans-
;
formed into the genii called phi." 1
Frazer remarks that the building of human shadows into

2
foundations in various parts of Europe is a latter-day modification

of the foundation sacrifice, and, on the other hand, he cites an even
more brutal form of the sacrifice than that described by Bruguiere
as occurring in Bima, a district of the East Indian Island of Sumbawa.
There,
"
when a new flag-pole is set up at the sultan's palace a woman is
crushed to death under it but she must be pregnant. The notion
;
may be that the ghost of such a woman would be more than usually
fierce and 3
vigilant."
From the account of van Vliet, who was in Siam from 1629 to
1634, it seems that a similar custom was in vogue in Siam during the
Ayudhya period. He wrote as follows :
"
The kings counted their subjects so little that if palaces, towers
or resting places had to be built for them, under each post which was
1
Annales de L' Association de la Propagation de la Foi, v (1831), pp. 164 sq.
2
OB. iii, pp. 89 sqq.
3
Ibid., p. 91.
put into the ground a pregnant woman was thrown and the more near
this woman was to her time the better. For this reason there was often
great misery in Judia [Ayudhya] during the time that palaces or
towers had to be built or repaired. For as all houses in Siam are built
at a certain height above the ground and stand on wooden posts
many women have endured this suffering. Although this description
seems to be fabulous, these executions have really taken place. The
people,, who are very- superstitious, believe that these women after
dying turn into terrible monsters or devils, who defend not only the
post below which they are thrown, but the whole house against
misfortune. The King usually ordered a few slaves to catch without
regard all the women who were in a pregnant state. But out of the
houses no women were taken unless in the streets nobody could be
found. These women were brought to the queen, who treated them
"
as if they were of high birth [cf temporary kings "]. After they had
.
been there for a few days, they were thrown into the pit with the
stomach turned upwards. After this the post was put on the stomach,
and driven right through it."
He then goes on to say that in 1634 the king renewed seventeen

gates, for which sixty-eight women were required, but five of them gave
birth on reaching the palace. This was considered to be a miracle,
so the king decided to liberate all the women except four. 1
Though the belief in guardian spirits which led to these human

sacrificeswas extremely widespread, and was probably an outgrowth
of primitive animism, it seems probable that the Siamese form was
influenced by India, where such customs were once
prevalent. Thus
in the Takkariya Jdtaka (No. 481) :
"
The chaplain said to the king of Benares at the erection of a
new 'My lord, a great gate is possessed and guarded by great
city gate,
spirits. A Brahman tawny brown and toothless, of pure blood on both
sides, must be killed his flesh and blood must be offered in
;
worship,
and his beneath and the gate raised upon
body laid it. This will
"2
bring luck to you and your city/
A
note on this Jdtaka by Cowell states that the sacrifice was meant
to propitiate the spirits disturbed
by the digging. But I see no
evidence for this supposition, at least in the Siamese rite. It seems
quite clear that the victims were themselves more or less deified ;
they were feasted before execution and propitiated afterwards they ;
were not offered as sacrifices to any other spirits. The custom also
"
nourished in Burma. Tepathin, guardian spirit of the city-gate of
"
Pagan is mentioned in the Glass Palace Chronicle? and the Sarabha
Gateway is guarded by two figures in niches, one on each side, and, as
1
JS8. vii, i, pp. 18-20. 2
Jatakas, Cowell's edition, iv, p. 155.
8 Trans, of Tin and Luce, p. 16.
THE PROPITIATION OF SPIRITS 307
I noticed when I visited Pagan in 1929, they are still reverenced by

the people of the neighbourhood.
"
Their origin is obscure, but they are said to represent the Popa
"
Maungdaw and Hnamadaw, brother and sister Nats of Popa Hill * ;
but I suggest that spirits of gate-guardians manu-

they represent the
factured in the usual way. At the founding- of Mandalay the proper
sacrifices were supposed to have been carried out, but evidently Thibaw,
who thought nothing of wholesale murder, had his doubts as to
whether the kind-hearted King Mindon had performed the work
thoroughly. He therefore meditated the immolation of several
hundred victims and was only restrained by fear of the effect it might
have on the British. But it is quite clear that he was not thinking of
propitiating the spirits of the but was desirous of strengthening
soil,
the city's spiritual defences. Burma a special annual
There was in
ceremony called P&ya Pwe, or Feast of the Shrines, in which royal
offerings were sent to the shrines of the nats, and to the city gate
2
guardians.
It is indeed amazing that such barbarous customs could have
existed in Siam as late as the beginning of the nineteenth century,
and in Burma until the extinction of the monarchy two countries
in which the religion of the Buddha was pre-eminent and where to kill
an insect was accounted a sin. Yet such is the force of tradition,
that it needed the adverse
expression of foreign opinion to bring
about the abandonment of these rites. They formed no part of
Siam's true religion, but held her, as it were, in a vice and their ;
abolition is one of those changes for the better which Siam owes to
contact with the West.
1
Taw Sein Ko, Archaeological Notes on Pagan, p. 16.
2
ERE. art. " Burma ".
CHAPTER XXVIi
THE EXPULSION OF EVIL
In The Golden Bough 1 Sir James Frazer has noted several features
characteristic of the Expulsion of Evil, wherever ceremonies to that
end are practised and we shall see that these features are not wanting
;
in Siam. In the first place, there are two methods of Expulsion the
immediate and the mediate which are identical in intention, that
intention being the total clearance of all the ills that have been
infesting a people. In both cases the evils are considered as invisible
and intangible, but in the former case they are directly expelled, while
in the latter a material vehicle is used a boat, a litter, or a human
scapegoat.
In the second place, a general clearance is resorted to periodically,
the interval between the celebrations is commonly a year, and the
time of year when the ceremony takes place usually coincides with
some well-marked change of season in Siam the beginning of the rainy
season, when cholera frequently begins its ravages and the expulsion
of the demons gives the people some degree of confidence in the future
In Siam, as in many other countries, the annual expulsion marks the
New Year.
Thirdly, this period is frequently marked by unusual licence. In
Siam this takes the mild form of a certain amount of popular amuse-
ment and joviality, and a feast of ancestors.
The last two of Frazer' s generalizations apply more particularly
to the General Expulsion of Evil which takes place at the Siamese
New Year, but the present chapter will be a suitable place in which
to discuss also certain more specialized forms of the Expulsion of Evil 1
or Exorcism, most of which are now almost or quite extinct in Siam

and about which very little information is obtainable.
1. The General Expulsion of Evil at New Year. 2

This is an example of the immediate Expulsion of Evil, and the
rites are really extremely primitive, although overlaid with Buddhist
modifications. The ceremony of freeing the palace and city from
evil spirits takes place at Trus (lunar new-year). Chapters of Buddhist
monks draw the sacred sincana thread round the various buildings
of the Koyal Residence, round the palace walls and, formerly, round
the city wall. Seated within the palace enclosure and, formerly, in
1
OB. ix, chapter v.
a
BRB. t pp. 133 sqq. ; NN. 9 p. 71 sq. ; Ge. (2).
308
THE EXPULSION OF EVIL 309
the centre of the city, at the eight gates and in the forts on the city
walls, they recite an uncanonical compilation known as Atdndtiya
Sutra, believed to be of great efficacy in the expulsion of demons.
Guns are also fired at various points within the palace and city, with
the object of frightening away all evil spirits. This firing is called
yin pu'n dtdnd, i.e. firing to drive away evil. In earlier times the
function of the guns was performed by gongs.
There are also popular celebrations at this season. The people carry
protective rings of unspun cotton thread on their heads, and threads
of the same material around their shoulders, so as to be freed of evil
influences on New
Year's Day. The monks are also invited to the
people's houses, where they free the premises from evil by means of
their recitations, and are afterwards entertained with food. There
is much rejoicing and popular amusement at this season, as is usual
in most parts of the.world on occasions when people believe themselves

freed from evil influences. As long as such beliefs remain in Siam,
the ceremony will retain its functional value as affording periodical
relief from the mental stress and worry of everyday life.
2.The Public Scapegoat.

Though I have not been able to obtain corroborative evidence from
any Siamese source, it would appear from the following passage that
the idea of the mediate Expulsion of Evil by its transference to a
human Scapegoat was practised in Siam in the seventeenth century,
presumably in connection with New Year.
"
There is one day in the year, in which they practise a ceremony,
somewhat resembling that of the Scape-goat, which was customary
among the Jews. They single out a woman broken down by debauchery
and carry her on a litter through all the streets to the sound of drums
and hautboys. The mob insult her and pelt her with dirt after having
;
sufficiently exposed her through the whole city, they throw her on a
dung hill, and sometimes on a hedge of thorns, without the ramparts,
forbidding her to enter them again. This inhuman and superstitious
ceremony is founded on the belief that this woman thus draws upon
her all the malign influences of the air and of evil spirits." 1
We have already seen that the idea of the Scapegoat was known
in Siam in a specialized form with regard to the institution known as
"
temporary kings ". The Public Scapegoat would not, therefore, seem
entirely incompatible with Siamese custom.
3. The Expulsion of Disease.
In May, 1820, an epidemic of cholera broke out, which was one
of the worst recorded in the history of Siam :
1
Translation of Turpin's History of Siam, chapter 3, in Pinkerton's Travels,
vol. ix, p. 579.
"
Corpses which there was no time to burn were heaped up in the
* '
monastery like stacks of timber or else left to float about in the river
and the canals. The people fled in a panic from the capital the ;
monks deserted the monasteries, and the whole machinery of govern-

ment was at a standstill. The king even released the royal guard from
; their duties in the palace. There were great ceremonies of
propitia-
tion the Emerald Buddha and the precious relics kept in the
;
monasteries were taken out in procession through the streets, and on

the canals of the city, attended by high dignitaries of the Church who
scattered consecrated sand and water. The king and the members
of the royal family maintained a rigorous fast. The slaughter of
animals was completely forbidden, and the king caused all
supplies
of fish, bipeds, and
quadrupeds, offered for sale, to be bought up in
order that they might be liberated. All criminals, except the Burmese
prisoners of war, were released from prison. The scourge abated at last
after taking 30,000 victims within a few months." l
This appears to be an example of magical methods having

given
way to religious ones. The prayer and carrying round of the sacred
images probably replaced an earlier observance in which the cholera

demon was driven from the city, perhaps encased in some material
vehicle.
The above occasion is mentioned by King Rama V in BRB., 2
where he states that the three images carried about, each in a separate
procession, were the Emerald Buddha, the Lord of Victory (Brah Jaya),
and Brah Ham Samud (Buddha in the attitude of calming the ocean) .
He also states that the people were divided in their opinion as to

whether the scourge was caused by the machinations of evil spirits
or whether it was brought about
by the Buddha's anger. He wishes
that the people would realize that diseases are caused by
specific germs,
and states that the ceremony may be considered as abolished. His
desires have been vigorously followed up by the
propaganda of the
Department of Public Health, to some extent with success,
though
not to the exclusion of private magical observances, which are still
more to the taste of the superstitious masses than is
any amount
of vaccine.
4. A Ceremony of Palace Exorcism.

I translate the following curious
passage from the KM. "If any :
persons quarrel and stab each other so that blood is shed within the
preoincts of the royal palace; or if a female slave should have a
miscarriage in the palace, propitiatory offerings must be made to the
gods. Ceremonial pavilions must be erected at each of the four gates
and p<n-sns with offerings placed under the gates. The sacred thread
1 K. Lingat, " History of Vat Mahadhatu " in JSS., vol. xxiv, pt. 1, 1930, p. 14.
a
BRB., pp. 158 sqq.
THE EXPULSION OF EVIL 311
must be passed round the palace. A

chapter of monks must be invited
to recite stanzas for three days. The Brahmans must come and offer
sacrifices to the. guardian genii (bahlikarm bvan in accordance
svaii)
with custom.Let there be dancing (rahpdm), binbddya bands with
gong and drum, and orchestral music (turiyatantn), and lanterns
lighted at the four gates. When the ceremony is finished the foetus
must be carried out of the city and cast away. Thus is the* evil omen
averted and the city saved from calamity."
The casting away of the foetus is, of course, an example of the
mediate Expulsion of Evil, the foetus being
regarded as the vehicle
of the evil.
5. A Royal Exorcism.
No doubtthere were, formerly, in Siam as in Cambodia,
specially
prescribed Brahmanical and Buddhist rites for the exorcism of any
evil spirit, especially
one of disease, which was believed to have taken
possession of the King or any member
of the royal family. I cannot
find any Siamese record of such rites, however, but think it
may be of
interest to quote Mrs. Leonowcna' account, for she was
probably the
only European who has ever had the opportunity of witnessing such
a ceremony. However, her story must be taken with the utmost reserve
and full allowance for missionary bias and untrained
powers of observa-
tion. The events which she relates refer to the occasion on which an
unfortunate slave-girl, named "May-Peah", who had liberated her
mistress from the harem, was
put on trial for the offence. In order
that she should not be persuaded to
betray her accomplices she had
heroically cut out her tongue, and so was unable to speak.
1
She was
about to be put to the torture when an old and respected
yogi who was
present announced that in his opinion she was not to blame, since she
was possessed by an evil spirit, and should be exorcized.
Let her bo exorcized said the Chief Judge of the
'
Supreme
Court, whose secretary was making minutes of all that took place
during the trial. On which the queerest-looking woman of the party,
an old and toothless dame, drew out a key from her
girdle and opened
some wooden boxes from which she took a small boat a sort of
coracle a long grey veil of
singular texture, an earthen stove, whereon
to kindle a charcoal fire, and some charcoal out of the second box
;
she produced some herbs, pieces of flint, cast skins of snakes, feathers,
the hair of various animals, with dead men's bones, short
broomsând
a host of other queer things. With the charcoal the old woman
pro-
ceeded to light a fire in her earthen stove when it was red-hot she
;
1
In support of Mrs. Leonowen's story, or at least, as evidence that such
things
are done in Bangkok, we have the
following incident recorded in the Bangkok Times
"
for 27th April, 1931: A Chinese woman took a pair of scissors and clipped off her
own tongue with them at a Chinese boarding-house on Friday evening."
opened several jars of water, and, muttering some, strange incantations,

threw into them portions of her herbs, repeating over each a mystic
spell, and waving a curious wand which looked like
a human bone, and
might have been once the arm of a stalwart man.* This done, she
seated the prisoner in the midst of the motley group, covered her over
with the veil of grey stuff, and handing the short hand-brooms to a
number of her set, she, to my intense horror, began to pour the burning
charcoal over the veiled form of the prisoner, which the other women,
dancing around, and repeating with the wildest gestures the name of
Brahma, as rapidly swept off. This was done without even singeing
the veil or burning a hair of May-Peah's head. After this they emptied
the jars of water upon her, still repeating the name of Brahma. She
was then made to change her clothes for an entirely new dress, of the
Brahminical fashion. Her dressing and undressing were effected with
great skill, without disclosing her person in the least. And once
more the yogi laid his hands upon her shoulders, and whispered again
in her ears, first the right, and then the left. But May-Peah returned
the same intimation, shaking her head and pointing to her sealed lips.
Then the old wizard, Khoon-P'hikhat literally, the lord who drives out
the devil prostrated himself before her, and prayed with a wild
energy of manner and, rising suddenly, he peremptorily demanded,
;
*
looking full in the prisoner's face, Where did you drop the bunch of
*
keys ? The glaring daylight illuminated with a pale lustre the fine
face of the Laotian slave, as for the third time she moved her head, in
solemn intimation that she could not or would not speak. To see her
thus, no one would believe but that, if she willed, she could speak at
*
once. Open her mouth
'
and pour some of the magic water into it,'
suggested one of the wise women '. But they who opened her mouth
'
fell back with horror, and cried, Brahma, Brahma an evil fiend has
!
torn out her tongue.' And immediately the unhappy woman passed
from being an object of fear and dread to one of tender commiseration,
of pity, and even of adoration. So sudden was the transition from
fear and hate to love and pity, that many of the strong men and women
wept outright at the thought of the dreadful mutilation that the fiend
had subjected her to. Now came the last and most important question,
*
Was the exorcism effectual ? '
To prove which a small taper was
lighted and put into the witches' boat and the whole company betook
;
themselves to the border of the stream to see it launched. The boat

swept gallantly down the waters, and the feeble lamp burned brightly,
without even a flicker for it was a calm day till it was brought to
a stand by some stones that were strewn across the stream. Then the
yogi raised a shout of wild delight, and all the company re-echoed it
with intense satisfaction and pleasure. And, in accordance with the
king's instructions, being acquitted of any complicity with the devil
in the abduction of the princess, the prisoners received each a sum
x
of money, and were set at liberty."
The significance of the boat is obviously that it is a vehicle for the

expulsion of the evil, one of the most obvious vehicles for such a
purpose that w6uld occur to a riverine people accustomed to cast
all their refuse into the water.
1
Leonowens, Romance of Siamese Harem Life, pp. 197 sqq.
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS
CHAPTER XXVIII
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS
Since the various Siamese State Ceremonies have as far as possible
each been made the subject of a separate and self-contained study,
it will only be necessary here to draw together certain threads which
run throughout the book, and to give a summary of the chief conclusions
at which it has been possible to arrive.
We have seen that the evolution of the State Ceremonies bears out,
in the main, what is known of the history of Siamese Culture as a
whole as based upon the results obtained from the study of the
inscriptions of Siam and the neighbouring countries,
and chronicles
of which a summary was given in Chapter II. Here and there we
can detect what appear to be survivals of the primitive stock of culture
possessed by the early Thai nomads, e.g. the placing of a gold ring in
the mouth of the dead king the TcJivdn spirit of the tonsurate, perhaps
;
a very early conception of the soul the propitiation of spirits,

;
especially the guardian spirits of mountains and the cult of white

;
animals, particularly the white elephant while many of the Agri-

;
cultural Ceremonies were probably grafted on to primitive animistic

and magical rites practised by the early Thai. But it is perhaps
impossible to say with absolute certainty whether any apparently
primitive feature is in fact purely Thai, or whether it was one of the
more primitive beliefs introduced in later times from China or India.
The first foreign influence brought to bear on the early Thai culture
was Chinese, though it can now hardly be said to survive in connection
with any Ceremony, with the possible exception of the First Ploughing.
Early Chinese influence was undoubtedly swamped by influences from
India many centuries ago, and in later times China has left her mark
only on the etiquette connected with the Reception of Embassies.
Indian influences reached Siam to some extent directly, but they
came mainly by way of the earlier Indianized kingdoms of Dvaravati,
$rlvijaya, and Cambodia. Little is at present known as to the nature
and extent of the influences of the first two kingdoms, but there can
be no doubt that the Brahmanism which forms the basis of most of
the Siamese Royal Ceremonies was derived from Cambodia, where
similar Brahmanic ceremonies are performed to this day. Though
Peguan Buddhism had reached the neighbouring Lao State of Lambun
and become the established religion there at least a century before
the Thai threw off the yoke at Sukhodaya, it is doubtful if Hinayanism
315
became definitely established at Sukhodaya before the thirteenth

century, when missions were received from Ceylon. From that
period dates the introduction of the great Buddhist .festivals like the
Kathina, but royal ceremonial remained predominantly Hindu, since
the Thai rulers sought to imitate the splendour of their former Khmer
suzerains. Even as late as the second half of the seventeenth century
there wad a Siamese King of Ayudhya (Narayana, 1656-84), who is
known to have favoured Brahmanism. On the whole, however, the
trend of development was in favour of Buddhism, which culminated
in the reign of King Rama IV (1851-68), with the addition of Buddhist
modifications to nearly every State Ceremony. I have characterized
these Buddhist modifications as late, because most of them seem to
have appeared in Siam only in fairly recent times, and this was because
the Siamese for centuries modelled most of their royal ceremonial on
that of the ancient Khmers. But many of the. ideas contained in
these later Buddhist modifications are extremely ancient and were
probably introduced in imitation of the forms in use amongst the

early Buddhist kings of Ceylon.
In studying the Siamese State Ceremonies we have frequently been
brought in contact with important phenomena of wide application
and great general interest. In the first place, we have made a close
study of the Siamese conception of the Divine Kingship, have noted
the taboos with which it is hedged around, and have seen how function-
ally important is the institution in the social life of the Siamese people.
We have often seen the King performing his divine or priestly functions,
and in one
ceremony at least (the Speeding of the Outflow) we have
seen him acting in his more primitive role as magician. Lastly, we
have considered the King as protector of the people's religion, on the
occasion on which he confers the Kathina gifts on the Buddhist
priesthood. <
A generalization of considerable importance is the theory that

the Ceremonies of Coronation, Investiture of the Queen,
Tonsure,
and Cremation are derived from some earlier Installation
all
Ceremony.
This theory particularly interesting with regard to the Cremation,
is
since it appears to throw light on the significance of

many apparently
incongruous rites.
" "
.The theory of Temporary Kings has been considerably
elaborated in this work. It has been shown by
comparative methods
that a series of stages can be traced in which the
King first performed
his magical arid divine functions in
person, afterwards retiring in
favour of an appointed substitute when the belief had arisen that
such duties were dangerous to the monarch. when this
Finally,
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 317
belief has been forgotten, a stage is reached at which the King resumes
his early functions.
A characteristic of Siamese State Ceremonies, which is brought
out most clearly in the section dealing with the Ceremonies Relating
to Agriculture, is the fact that one rarely has to deal with a single
ceremony performed with a single object in view, but rather with a
series of superimposed rites, the objects of 'which have often been
forgotten or confused. This is more particularly to be found in the

older ceremonies, and in none more than in the Swinging Festival, the
elucidation of which presented one of the most complicated but also
one of the most interesting problems in the whole work. I also believe
that it is a matter of some importance to have been able to place on
record from personal observation an account of the complex and little
understood ritual of the Court Brahmans in connection with the
Swinging Festival, and the accompanying Reception of the Gods.
This ritual may be abolished at any moment, following which the
opportunity for studying it at first hand will have gone for ever.
With reference to the ultimate derivation of most of the Siamese
State Ceremonies from India it is satisfactory to note that it has been
possible to trace the more important features in nearly every ceremony
back to their Indian prototypes. In most cases this result seems to
have been achieved with reasonable certainty, so that I feel confident
that the light of further knowledge is more likely to strengthen than
to destroy most of the theories that have been built up in the course of
this work. In most of the ceremonies, however, fuller knowledge
is very much to be desired, and there are many gaps which require
to be bridged. Only in the Coronation are we possessed of anything
like the amount of evidence which we should like to have in the case
of every ceremony, and which, in the Coronation, enables us to trace
back many ideas step by step to very ancient times.
Turning now to the sociological aspect of the work, I think that
it has been made quite clear that most of the Siamese State Ceremonies
stillretain very considerable importance in connection with the
maintenance of the social integrity of the State. The chief function
now performed by State Ceremonial is the preservation of the popular
respect for ancient tradition, particularly with reference to the Absolute
Monarchy. The Siamese are as yet quite unsuited to any other form
of government, and, were the abolition of the kingship to come about
in the near future, the whole social fabric of Siam would undoubtedly
collapse like a house of cards. As has been frequently pointed out in

the course of this book, it is the brighter side of Court Ceremonial, the
pageantry of the royal Kafhina processions, and the splendour of the
Coronation, which most impress the minds of. the masses, and any
attempt to curtail the traditional glamour surrounding the Divine
Kingship is bound to react unfavourably on the established form of
government. But though this is the chief, it is not the only type of
functional value that the State Ceremonies retain. A
large section
of this work has been devoted to the numerous Agricultural Ceremonies
of the Siamese, and it i's natural that a
people whose welfare depends
so largely on the abundance of the rice crop should have
paid so much
attention to the elaboration of ceremonies of this type. Some of these
ceremonies, especially the First Ploughing, may almost be said to
retain their former functional value in full, in
enabling thousands of
superstitious farmers to set about their agricultural operations with
confidence that their efforts will be rewarded. Again, it be saidmay
that belief in the power of spirits remains unabated with a
large section
of the population who still turn to them, and to the
half-forgotten
Hindu gods for help in worldly matters which they cannot expect
from Buddhism. More particularly is the Can Hldk Mo'an, or Guardian
Spirit of the City, not forgotten, and I doubt not but that the exclusion
of his name from the Oath of Allegiance
might have an adverse effect
on the loyalty of some of the less worthy of the King's servants.
Finally, I should like to call attention to what seems to me to be
a bright omen for the future prosperity of Siam. While
many of the
old ceremonies have been abolished or curtailed, it is
only fair to
mention that there has, in recent years, been a
tendency for those in
power to continue to cater for the Siamese populace's unflagging desire
for pageantry and ceremonial
display. Thus many new observances
have crept in to fill the places of those which have lost their significance.
The process was begun by King Kama IV when he instituted the
King's Birthday and Coronation Anniversary celebrations. Now we
have the Trooping of the Colour, and Degree Day at the
University ,
on both of which occasions a chapter of monks is in attendance to chant

stanzas of victory while, when the King anoints a new gunboat, it is
;
something more than the European custom of breaking a bottle of

champagne. Naturally these rites are mainly Buddhist, but, however
much we may regret from a historical point of view the passing of
Brahmanism, it cannot but be admitted that this bringing into line
of the national religion with the modern State Ceremonies of a pro-
gressive people is
sociologically sound, and augurs well for Siam's
future. With the growth of education the change to a democratic
form of government is certain to come sooner or later, and the beneficent
influence of Buddhism manifested in every Ceremony of State will
probably do much to mollify the dangers of the period of transition.
INDEX
AbJiiseka (anointment) of kings, 70, Atharva Veda, rejected by Siamese,
74, 76, 79, 121 ; of queens, 55.
116-18 ;
of tonsurate, 130, 131 ; Audience, general, at coronation,
of images, 253-4 of white
; 88-9 ;
to palace ladies, 89 ;
elephant, 276. special, 90; State, 177-86; to

Ablution, 184 (and see Bath, officials and petitioners, 187-92.
ceremonial). Ayudhya, foundation of, 14.

Absolutism of the monarchy, 24.
Address, modes of, 40. Bakus, 60, 61.
Agni Purana, cited, 107. Baladeba (Minister of Agriculture),
Agrayana feasts, 236. 22, 199, 239, 256-9, 263, 295.
Agrayaneshti, 229, 236. Bali, 113, 122.
Agriculture, Minister of (see Barges, royal, 33, 111-15, 203.
Baladela). Bath, ceremonial, of kings, 74, 216,
Aitareya-AranyaJca, cited, 244 fn. 239, 299 confused with anoint-
;
Aitareya Brahmana, cited, 80, 81, ment, 76 ;

of queen, 118 ;
of
83, 95, 121. tonsurate, 128, royal 130; of
Amazons, 47, 109. corpse, 139 ; of Brahmans, 248.
Ambassadors (see Embassies, recep- | Bell, audience, 190 in Brahmanic ;
tion of). ritual, 249-53.

Ancestors, homage to, 30, 90, Betel Nut Set (regalia), 83, 101.
169-74. Birthday, King's, 215-17.
Animals, mythical, of the Hima- Blood of royal persons tabooed,
phan, 128, 150, 167-8. 37-8.
Animism, 301. Boat, as vehicle for expulsion of
Arikor bas-reliefs, 59, 93, 96, 100, evil, 312.
109, 110, 111, 113, 115, 149, 150, Bodhisattva, king regarded as, 31,
^ 185, 191, 277. 166.
Anniversaries, royal, 213-17. Bodyguard, Eoyal (Tamrvac), 110.
Anointment (see Abhieka). Brahma, 129, 148, 149, 228, 229.
Antagada Dasao, cited, 75, 77 fn., Brahmans, Cambodian, 58-60.
80.
Brahmans, Indian, 57-8 duties ;
Anthem, National, 6. of, 61.

Apsaras, as figure head, 114. Brahmans, Siamese, dress of, 54 ;
Army, purification of, 297. sects of, 54 ; temples of, 54 ;

Asadha festival, 296. distribution of, 57 books of,
;
Ashes, disposal of, after cremation, 55, 63 initiation of, 57

; ; origin
154-61. of, 61 ;
hair loosened as sign of
A6oka, missions of, 12. mourning, 149 ritual of, ;
at
Astrologer (see Horn). Swinging Festival, 247-53.
Asuras, 122. Bmh-pada, 200.
319
320 INDEX
Brihaspati, cited, 196. Cocoa-nut water, used for bathing

"
Buddha, Emerald," 71, 89, 310. royal remains, 147, 157.
"
Buddha, image of, calling down Cocoa-nuts, thrown to drowning
"
rain," 223-4 image of,
; calm- royalty, 33.
ing the ocean," 226, 310. Command, first, of crowned king,
Buddha, life Siamese version
of, 86.
cited, 49,. 87, 97, 224 Burmese ; Conch, 72 and fn.
version cited, 117 Sinhalese
; Concubines (see Harem).
version cited (see Niddna-kathd Con Parian, 288-90.
and Mahd-Parinibbdna Sutta). Consecration ceremonies compared,
Buddhist Eeligion, King's accept- 123-5.
ance of the Headship of, 89. Cord, Brahmanic, 249.
Buddhist ritual, 54 fn. | Corn, spirits of the, 233, 235.
Buddhist sects in Siam, 91, 216. ;
Coronation, Ceremony of Actual,
Buddhist services of benediction, 82-7 Anniversary of, 213-15.
;
73, 77, 84, 87, 213, 216. ;
Corpse, royal, bathing and adorning

Bull, sacred, worship of, 295. the, 139-40 ; preparation of, for
Burma, Siamese intercourse with, burning, 147.
15, 19-20. Cremation, history of, 155-62 ;
function of, 165-7.

Cakravartin, king regarded as, 31 ; Crow, white, 287.
cremation of, 156. Crowns, royal, 83, 95-8, 129, 140 ;
CakriDay, 171. of white elephant, 277.

Cakri Dynasty, 15, 17. Cujalankarana Day, 172.
Cambodia, influence of, 13-15.
Candle of Victory, 73, 216. Damaru, 77 fn.
Candles, in Brahmanic ritual, Dance, d&nvisai, 121 at Cam- ;
249-53. bodian rain-making ceremony,

Cars, funeral, 149-50. 227 ; circular, at Swinging
Ceylon, religious intercourse with, Festival, 242, 244 for exorcism,
;
14, 15, 19, 186. 311.

Chank (see Conch). Darbha grass, 78, 83, 250.
Chargers, royal, 88, 109. Days, auspicious, for First Plough-
Chdtra Mangala, 213-15. ing, 256.
Cheou Ta-kouan, 56, 101, 109, 113, Deification of kings (see
Kingship,
160, 170, 185, 188, 191. divine).
Chignon, Brahmanic, 54, 59, 96. Deva-raja (Royal God) Cult, 29, 59,
Children, royal, not allowed to 86, 169, 170.
remain in palace, 40. Dhdnya-daha, 228-31.
China, intercourse with, 15, 18, 182. Dharmaraja I, King, 14, 16, 60,
Chinese rites at Royal Cremation, 85, 98.
,143. Dhanapurl, 15, 17.
Circumambulation, pradaksina, Diffusion, theory of, 4.
102 fn., 107, 131, 199, 202, 222 ; Dipawali (see Diwali).
prasavya, 153 , 154. Directions, eight, worship of the, 72.
Cities, guardian spirits of (see Disease, expulsion of, 309-10.
Spirits). Ditoali, 289.
INDEX 321
Dogs, corpses offered to, 159, 160. Fruit offerings in Brahmanic ritual,
Draii Dharma, King, 16, 57. 249, 254.
Dress, of Brtfhmans, 54 of kings, ; Fruits, First, festivals of, 228-37.
*
77 of queens, 117 of tonsurate, ; Functional method of social anthro-
129 of royal corpse, 139
; of ;
pology, 3, 5, 7.
Buddhist monks, 208-9. Functions, magical, priestly or
Dvaravatl, 13, 18. divine, erf kings (see King).
Dyuta festival, 293.
Gantlharvaft, 110.
Earth, Goddess 109, 250, 257.
of, 87, Ganesa, temple of, 54, 55 ritual ;
East, quarter faced by king at in temple of, 250 image of, ;
coronation, 79. borne in procession, 77, 251 ;
Elephants as rain-makers, 223, 284. tonsure of, 127.

Elephants, sprinkling of (see Gangil, at Swinging Festival, 250.
Snana). Garuda, 88, 110, 113, 287.
Elephant, White, a royal ratna, 88 ; Gems, the Triple, 78 Girdle of ;
whisk of tail of, 83, 100, 119 at ;

the Nine, 83, 101 Ring of the
;
Kathina, 207 reception of,

; Nine, 130.
274-5, 278 anointment of, 275
; ;
Ghosts (see phi, and pretas).
naming of, 275, 276 accoutre- ; Girdle, Brahman, 83, 86, 101 ;
of
ments of, 276-7 in reign of ; the Nine Gems, 83, 101.
Rama IV, 278-9 eulogy recited ; Gldn, Brah (Minister of Commerce
to, 279 in seventeenth century,
; and Foreign Affairs), 22, 181-4,
280-2 cremation of, 282-3
;
;
199.
omens drawn from, 273, 284 ; Glory, Buddhist (see Sirofama).
a cause of war, 282 significance ; God, eating the, 235.
and history of the cult of, 284- 1 .
Gods, doing violence to the, 223 ;
Embassies, reception of, 177-86. reception of the, 238-47.

Eunuchs, 50. Grains, roasted, scattered, 77, 129,
Evil, expulsion of, 308-12. 150.
Execution of royal persons, 37-8. Ground, king not to
supposed
Exorcism, palace, 310-11 ; royal, touch, 36.
31 1-12. Gru, BraJit Mahd Raja (High Priest
of Siva), 72, 74, 77, 83, 248-55,
Fan, 83, 100, 110,226. 257, 296.
Fiftieth
day rites, 143. Grus 199
(pandits), ; (deceased
Figwood (udwnbam), 78, 81, 102. spiritual professors), 233-4.
Fire, sacred, for cremation, 144, Guns, fired at coronation, 77 ; fired
150, 153. at cremation, 141, 153 ; fired to
Fire sacrifices (see Homo). 309
expel evil, ; guardian spirits
Fireworks, 147, 172, 210, 251, 254. in (see Spirits).
Flowers, gold and silver, scattered, j
87. Hair, tabooed, 32-34 modes of

;
Flowers, in ritual, 249. dressing, 54, 59, 96, 97, 149.

Food, taboos relating to, 37 ; Hair-cutting of kings, 34.
offered at lying-in-state, 142. Hansa, as 114 in
figure-head, ;
Footprint, sacred (see Brah-pada). ritual, 252-4.

322 INDEX
Hanuman, 110, 113, 287. Kaniska, King, mission of, 13.

Harem, constitution of, 46-9 ; Kathina, 200-12 significance and
;
function 49-52. function of, 200

of, description of ;
Harihara, images of, 54-5. modern, 201-4 ceremony in the ;
Hat, royal.. 89, 98. temple at, 204 ; in the seven-

Head tabooed, 32-4. teenth century, 205-8 early
;
Hmayanism, introduction of, 13. history of, 208-10 ; followed by

Hinayanistic conception of king- regatta, 211.
ship, 31. Kautiliya-ariha-sastra, cited, 44.
Historical method, 3. Khau Barsa, 200.
Holi festival, 245-6. Khvdn (see Spirit, khvdn).
Homa, 72. King, daily life of, 42-6 ;
dress of,
Horn, 44, 62, 102, 129, 199, 299. 77, 139, 203 ;
exercise of divine
Horoscope, royal, inscription of, and priestly functions by, 79, 91,
102. 118, 130-2, 174, 229, 266;
House warming, 118-20. exercise of magical functions by,
Hundredth day rites, 143, 161. 226, 266 ;
ceremony before death
of, 138 ; dead, worship of,
Illumination of Bangkok, 217. 169-74.
Independent origins, theory of, 4. King, Second (see Ugatuja, Malm}.

India, cultural influence of, 18-19. King, Temporary, 132, 228-30, 239,
Indra, 122, 123, 129, 134, 146, 148, 256, 265-9 pays homage to
;
149, 228, 229, 230. king, 243 rewards of, 242, 258.
;
IwdrabhiseJca, 80, 121-3. Kings of Siam, list of, 16-17.
Initiation of Brahmans, 57 ; of Kingship, Divine, 29-32, 86 (and

see Deva-raja).
princes (see Tonsure).
Inscriptions, 7. Kite-flying, 221.
Insignia, of officials, 22 ; of Kojagara festival (see Dyuta).
tonsurate, 131, 144 ;
of
temporary king, 240, 256. Lamps, feasts of, 288-94 hoisted ;
Installation, ceremonies com- on poles, 288-90; floated at

of,
pared, 123-5, 133-5, 163-5. night, 292-4.
Investigation, methods of, 3. Language, Court, 39.

Lao, 13.
Lava, 12.
.Japanese in Siam, 208.
Leaves, in ritual, 72, 74 fn., 130.
JataJcas, cited, 76, 93, 94, 95, 99,
Letter, Royal, reception of, 181,
100, 101, 103, 107, 116, 284, 285,
184.
286, 302, 306.
Levees, Court, 189, 214.
Libations, 87, 109, 257.
Kahtikeya Festival, 290-2. Libation Vessel (regalia), 83, 101 .
Kailasa, Mount, 31, 61, 71, 122, Light- waving rite (see Vian diari).
"
127-8 ; opening the portals Limes, containing coins, 146.
of," 56, 63, 83, 86, 248, 251;
" Linga, 29, 110, 169, 296.
closing the gortals of," 63, 253. Literature, Siamese, 7-9 Euro- ;
Kdlpavrksa (Pdrijdta) tree, 123, pean, 9-10.

146, 243, 251. Lokapdla, 78, 82.
INDEX 323
Loy Krafyddh, 292-4. . Ndgas, as figure-heads, 114 im- ;
Lying-in-State, 141-4. personated in Swinging Festival,

241-2, 245.
Macfha-puja, 200." Name, personal, of king tabooed,
Magic, contagious, 193, 263 ; 38-9.
imitative, 223, 226, 244. Nanchao, 13, 18.
Magical rites, at Assumption of Nandi, 54,. 295.
Koyal Residence, 119. Narada, cited, 30, 58.
Mahdbhdrata, cited, 44. Narayana, King, 16, 225, 239 ;
Mahd-navami, feast, 236. daily life of, 43-4 audiences of,

;
Mahd-Parinibbdna Sutta, cited, 182, 187.

107 154, 156, 157, 171 fn.
fn., NareSvara, King, 16, 106.
Mahdvagga, cited, 210. Naresvara, procession of, at Swing-
MaMvamm, cited, 32, 92, 93, 94, ing Festival, 251.
95, 97, 98, 100, 103, 157, 166, 190, New Year, 298-9.
212, 301, 302. Niddna-kathd (in Buddhist Birth
Mahayanism, introduction of, 13. Stories), cited 81, 93, 119, 260,
Mahhatlek (Lord Chamberlain's 285.
Department), 22, 177, 203, 258. Nirdjand, 297.
Maitreya Buddha, 32, 204.
Manasara, cited, 107.
Oath, king's, to Brahmans, 79-80.
Mantras, Brahmanic, 55-7, 83, 84,
86 of allegiance, 193-8.
249, 251-4
;
Buddhist, 73, 193.
;
Observation, personal, 10.

Manu, cited, 30, 35, 37, 45-6, 58,
Ocean, churning of the, 123.
61, 116, 187, 247.
Octagonal Throne, ceremony on,
Marriage, royal, 48, 116.
77-82.
Mask, gold, on face of corpse, 139.
Officials, ranks of, 22 promotion
Matriarchy, 68-9.
;
of, 214-16.
Mercury, use of, at cremation, 140,
Oil, not used for anointment in
155.
Siam, 76, 79.
Meru, Mount, 31, 71, 122-3, 144-7.
Ministers of State, 22. Omens, importance of, in Siam, 62 ;
drawn from boat-races, 211 ;

Miscarriage, expulsion of evil after,
310.
drawn from oxen's choice of food,
257, 259, 263; drawn from
Monkey, white, 287.
Mon-Khmers, 12. length of Baladebas skirt, 257 ;
drawn from appearance of

Moon, at Swinging Festival, 250.
Mortar, stone, in ritual, 252-4. elephants, 273, 284 drawn from;
Mountains, spirits of (see Spirits). casting of sticks, 291 drawn ;
from top-spinning, 298.

Mourning, regulations for, 142, 161.
Mudrd, 253. Omkdra, 86.
Ordeal by water, 196.
Murdhdbhiseka, 299 fn.
Origins, independent, theory off 4.
at Indrdbhieka, Outflow, speeding of the, 225-6.'

Ndga, figure of,
122-3.
Nagara Pathama, 13, 154. Padi, burning of, 228-31 ; carrying
Nagara Sri Dharmaraja, 14, 57. home the, 228-30.
324 INDEX
Pai-sri offerings, 73, 131, 295, 310. Quarters, guardians of (see Loka-
Palace, Grand, 71. pdla).
Palanquin, royal, 110. Queen, 68, 116-18. *
PSli dialogue (at Coronation), 78-9,

83-6. Bain, control of, 222-7.
Pancha-gavya, 252 fn. Rajdbhiseka, 70.
Pandits, Court, 44, 77, 78. Rdjafilha, as throne covering, 83.
Pansakula verse, 143, 15*8. Rajasuya, 70, 74, 75, 77, 79, 81, 87,
Pantheon, homage to statues in, 93, 99, 103.
170, 215. Rdjavdt fence, 122 fn., 145, 172, 232,
Parakrama Bahu, King, influence 240, 250.
of, 14, 97. Rama I-VI, kings of Cakri Dynasty,
Pdraskara Grihya-sutra, cited, 17.
229 fn., 295 fn. Rama IV, King, daily life of, 42-3 ;
Pdrijata tree (see Kdlpavrksa). harem of, 46-7.

Paritta suttas, 73, 129, 205, 216. Rama Gamhen, King, 14, 16, 182,
Patriarch, Prince, 75, 88, 91, 138, 190, 192, 195 fn., 209, 211, 277,
152. 301.
People, divisions of the, 22. Ramadhipatl 1, King, 14, 16.
PJta-nun, 54, 77, 117, 122, 240, Ramadhipatl II, King, 122.
257.
Ramayana, cited, 87, 96 fn., 99,
Phaulkon, Constantine, 183, 187. 101, 113, 121, 123, 157, 173,
Phi, 137, 198, 300-3, 305. 196 fn., 260, 285, 287.
Phimeanakas, 71, 195. Ranks, social, 21-2.
Pinfas, 234. Ratnas, royal, 88, 93, 116.
Piiris, 169, 232, 234, 235. Ravana, 96.
Ploughing, First, 256-64. Receptacle (regalia), 83, 101.
Portraits, royal, honoured, 173. Reforms, of King Rama V, 23 of ;
Pradaksina (see Circumamhulation). King Rama VI, 23.

Prdptdbhiseka, 70. Regalia, list of, 83 significance
;
Prasada Don, King, 16, 205, 206. of, 86 possible derivation from
;
Prasada spire, 114-15, 145, 252-3.

magicians' implements, 92, 99 ;
Pretas, 234. the five chief, 92.

Procession, Coronation, by land, Regatta, royal, 211-12.
108 Coronation, by water, Relics, collection
;
royal, of, 154;
111-12 Tonsure, 129 Crema-
; ;
homage to, 171, 215.
tion, 148-9; Kathina, 202-8; Religion, the popular, 24.
at Swinging Festival, 240, 251 ; Residence, Royal, Assumption of,
at First Ploughing, 256 at ; 118-20.
reception of White Elephant, 275. Rhinoceros, bearer of the Sacred
Prognostics (see Omens). Fire, 150, 168.
Progresses, State, 106-15. Rhyme-making, 231.
Prpstration, 24, 59, 142, 191-2, 208. Rice, mixing the heavenly, 232-5 ;
Purohita, 58, 60, 61, 62, 79, 80, 85, consecrated, sown at First
87, 103, 254. t
Ploughing, 257 (and see Padi).
Pusydbhi$eka, 121. Rig- Veda, cited, 107 fn., 158, 244.
Pyre, funeral, 144-7. Ring, of nine gems, 130 placed in ;
INDEX 325
mouth of royal corpse, 140 ;

of 123, 251 ; High Priest of (see
Head Brahman, 249. 6Vu, Brali
Raja) Mahd
im- ;
Kings (regalia), 83, 101 ;

use of, at personated at Tonsure, 130-2 ;
king's hair-cutting, 34. impersonated at Swinging Festi-

Kites, magical (see Magical rites) ; val, 239 watches the Swing-
;
purificatory, 72, 249. ing, 241 ;

ritual in temple of,
Kivers, the five principal, 74 ; 247-54..

spirits of (see Spirits). Siva's Night, 296-7.
Slippers (regalia), 83, 99.

Sndna, 297.
Sacrament of First Fruits, 228. Sokdnta (see Tonsure).
Sacrifice, of First Fruits, 228; Soothsaying (see Omens).
human, at foundation of build- Soul, 173 (and see Spirit, khvdfi).
ings, 304-7. Spirit, Tchvdn, 33, 34, 131, 276,
Sdkamedha, 236, 237. 315.
Sdkti, 55, 289, 296. Spirits, of umbrella, 73, 194, 198,
Sdkti na, 22, 53. 213 guardian, of cities, 73, 194,
;
Samskdras (initiation rites), 126. 198, 302-3; of the corn, 233,

Sandal-wood, 152, 153. 235 ;
of rivers, 294 ; propitia-
Sdnghardja (see Patriarch, Prince). tion of, 300-7 ; of mountains,
Sankrdnti, 299. 301 ; guardian, of great guns,
Sanies, burning of, 144. 304 ; guardian, of foundations,
Sanskrit texts, 55. 304-7.
Sarada Ceremony, 231-7. Sraddhas, 161, 169, 232, 233, 234.
Sastras, references to, in Siamese Srivijaya, 13, 18.
texts, 55. Standards, royal, 110.
Satdpakarana rite, 142, 143, 154, Stick (regalia), 83, 100.
158, 169, 171. Style and title, handed to the king,
iSatapatha Brdhmana, cited, 30, 36, 83 inscription of,
;
102 of ;
74, 75, 77, 79, 81, 83, 86, 87, 95, kings of Cakri Dynasty, 104-5.
99, 102 fn., 103, 106, 107 fn., 229, Succession, 67.
230, 236. Sugrlva, 96, 113, 122.
Scapegoat, public, 309. Sujata, 233.
Sceptre (regalia), 83, 100. Sukhodaya, independence of, 14.
Sebhd, recited at king's hair-cutting, Sun, king's equivalence to, 35-6,
34. 78 at Swinging Festival, 250.
;
Second King (see Upardja, Maha). Sunshade, 110.

Sesa, 296. Suvarnabhumi, 12.
Seventh day rites, 143. Swan (see Hansa).
Shadow plays, 254. Swing, the great, 240 the small, ;
Siladitya, King, missions of, 13. in Siva temple, 252.

Sincana (sacred thread), 73, 102, Swinging Festival, 238-55 splar ;
110, 131, 193, 232, 233, 308, 310. origin of, 243-5 processions at, ;
Sirotama (Buddhist glory), 97. 240-2, 251.

Sister-marriage, 68, 117. Sword, of Victory <regalia), 83, 98,
Siva, introduction of worship of, 13, 193, 199 Personal (regalia), 83,
;
19 ;
temple of, 54 ; images of, 54, 101.
326 INDEX
Taboos, 32-42. Vai'sdkka-pvja, 200, 216.

Tak, King, 15, 17, 18, 32, 166. Vajapeya, 71, 81.
Tamil hymn, 55, 56. Vedas, reference
"
to," in Siamese
Thai, 13. texts, 55, 60.
Thread, sacred (see Sincana, and Vehicles, traditional, of kings, 109.
Cord, Brahmanic). Vian dian rite, 102, 131, 173, 213.
Throne, Octagonal, 78,. 81 Bka- ; Victory, king's, at coronation, 78,
drapiiKa, 83, 129, 252-4 Golden ;
80-1.
Hibiscus, 88, 178, 185 Window, ; Virgins, in Sdrada Ceremony, 233,
182-5. 235.
Title (see Style). Vishnu, Institutes of, cited, 50, 58.
Tonsurate, reception of, on Mount Visnu, temple of, 54 ; images of,

Kailasa, 130. 55, 122, 123; High Priest of,
Tonsure, 126-36 ;
function of, 72 fn., 77 ; ritual in temple of,
135-6. 255.
Top-spinning, 298. Visnu's Sleep, 295-6.
Tradition, value of, 5, 6. Visnu worship, introduction of,
Traibhumi, 127. is, 19.
Transliteration, system of, 11. Visvakarma, 123.
Tripitaka, honoured, 172-3. Vow, tying the, 148, 259.
Tru$, 299. Vultures, corpses offered to, 159-60.
TulabJiara
" (royal weighing), 199,
216. Wailing of women at cremation,
139, 142.
Udumbam (figwood), 78, 81, 102. Water, consecrated, 74, 249, 253,
Udumbara, King, 8, 16. 254 of allegiance, 193.
;
Urna, images of, 54. Weapons, royal, 106, 193, 198, 213.
Umbrella, single-tiered, 110 pro- ; Weighing, royal (see Tulabhara).
cessional, 110 straw, 228-30.
; Wind, control of, 221.
Umbrella, White, 78, 83, 93-5, 141 ; Women, pregnant, sacrifices of,
spirit of, 73, 194, 198, 213. 305-6.

Unalom scroll, 131, 249.
U$araja Maha, 22, 52-3, 180, 185, Yak's hair tufts, 112, 277.
289 function of, 53.
; Yak's tail whisk (regalia), 83, 100.
Urn, Water (regalia), 83, 101. Yantra diagrams, 56, 72, 252, 290.
Urns, funeral, 139, 154, 161. Yoni, 296.
Printed in Great Britain by Stephen Austin & Sons, Ltd., Hertford.

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00 =

u< OU 158081 >S

H. G. QUARITCH WALES, M.A., Ph.D.

With Frontispiece, 45 Plates and 5 Figures

MRS. C. QUARITCH WRENTMORE,

of her sympathetic interest

system adapted from that used for the transliteration of Sanskrit,

recognizable, allows it to be easily reconstructed in Siamese characters

deference to established usage.

University, whose kindly criticism of parts of my manuscript at an

Sanskrit scholar attached to the Royal Institute at Bangkok, who

functional method of social anthropology.

II. AN OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF SIAMESE CULTURE 4 12

III. SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE SIAMESE . . 21

PART II. THE CHIEF FACTORS IN SIAMESE STATE

V. THE COURT BRAHMANS ..... 54

PART lit. CEREMONIES OF INSTALLATION

VII. CORONATION (continued) : THE REGALIA AND THE

VIII. CORONATION (continued) : INSTALLATION OF THE

IX. HIGHER GRADES IN ROYAL CONSECRATION . . 121

X. THE TONSURE CEREMONY 126

XL CREMATION : THE CEREMONIES . . . .137

XIII. THE WORSHIP OF DEAD KINGS . . . .169

PART IV. CEREMONIES CLOSELY CONNECTED WITH

XV. THE OATH OF ALLEGIANCE 193

XVI. THE ROYAL BOUNTY (Tulabhdra and Kathina) . 199

XVII. ROYAL ANNIVERSARIES (Coronation and Birthday) . 213

FART V. CEREMONIES RELATING TO AGRICULTURE

Kite-flying, Baruna-Satra, and the Speeding of the

XX. THE SWINGING FESTIVAL, and the Reception of the

XXI. THE FIRST PLOUGHING 256

XXII. TEMPORARY KINGS .

PART VI. MISCELLANEOUS STATE CEREMONIES

XXIII. THE WHITE ELEPHANT 273

XXIV. FEASTS OF LAMPS : Con Pariah, Kahtikeya Festival,

XXV. MINOR BRAIIMANICAL CEREMONIES : The Worship

Snana, Top-spinning, New Year . . .295

XXVII. THE EXPULSION OF EVIL The General Expulsion

of Evil at New Year, the Public Scapegoat, the

BEFEO. Bulletin de Vficole Franchise $ Extreme-Orient.

D, Dubois and Beauchamp, Hindu Manners, Customs and

V, Adonis, Attis, Osiris, pt. 1 ; VI, do. pt. 2 VII, Spirits

Ge. (1) G. E. Gerini, Chulakantamangala, Bangkok, 1895.

SBE. Sacred Books of the East.

The Jatakas (Buddhist Birth Stories) are usually referred to by

I. The Altar in the Siva Temple

The Royal Progress by Land

The Lying-in-State in the Tusita Maha Prasada

5. The Brafy Mahd Raja Gru performing Rites in the

on the Bhadrapitha Throne ....

SCOPE AND SOURCES

Religion of those countries from which the Siamese derived, their

Secondly, Hinduism is a religion that lends itself especially to the

paraphernalia of Hinduism and retained much of its ritual in their

work. Nevertheless, though the inquiry revolves mainly around the

probes deeply into the whole body of society.

and the functional method of social anthropology. The first method is

These words immediately call to mind those two theories of modern

prominent part. Indeed Hocart, in his book on Kingship, has

brought forward interesting evidence in support of there having been

Magic never originated ', it never has been made or invented.

I hope, therefore, that it will be understood that I do not use